Rainbow Spirit
by She-bop
Summary: OC; I generated a new character type for the Bleach series; also, the first fic where I try to include song lyrics to further the story, language warning
1. Chapter 1

One day, around late afternoon, an unusual young woman entered Kurakaratowne . "Well, now that I'm here, I'm not sure exactly what to do," she mused as she wandered about. "I suppose I should try to find someone who can help me make heads or tails of this place. They told me it would be strange…I guess they were right when they said this isn't something one can prepare for."

* * *

Rukia, as well as a few others noticed her arrival. It was difficult not to, since her raietsu was so different from anything they'd felt before, let alone the ambient spiritual pressure of the city itself. The energy didn't feel particularly menacing, like that of a hollow, so they were at Urahara's shop when she finally decided to check her phone to see if she could figure out what it was.

When she did, the shopkeeper chuckled. "Does it say anything?" he asked knowingly.

She frowned deeply. "No. Doesn't even see it."

"I didn't think it would. It's not designed for that," he informed.

"What do you mean? It's supposed to be able to at least pick up a trace of something with that much raietsu." She smacked it a couple of times to no avail.

"You wanna go check it out?" Ichigo proposed offhandedly as he finished his cup of tea.

"If you're that worried, it might be worth the time to check it out," Ishida added.

Orihime frowned a little at that. "I don't think it's anything to worry about."

Her comment made the shopkeeper smile because he knew she was right. However, he also knew that some of her friends couldn't leave well enough alone.

A little while later, while his young guests were still debating whether to go check out the strange energy, Yuroichi stopped by. When she heard what they were talking about, she decided to chime in. "I was going to go greet her. It's been a long time since I've meet someone like her. Maybe I can bring her back?" she offered.

"She?" Rukia gave a look of disbelief. She wasn't even sure what kind of creature it was and this woman knew that and its gender.

"Well, I caught a glimpse of her when she arrived but she was so caught up in what she was doing that I thought I'd leave her to it."

"What is she?" Rukia asked. "My phone doesn't even see her," she complained.

Yuroichi appeared pensive for a moment, like she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell the young soul reaper. "Have you ever heard the stories about Rainbow Warriors?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah, used to hear'em all the time when we were kids," Renji chimed it. "But they're just stories. Rainbow Warriors aren't real."

Orihime was especially intrigued by this title and immediately asked for more. "What's a Rainbow Warrior?"

"I took a folk-studies class at the academy," Rukia informed as she tried to remember what she'd learned all those years ago. "They live in nomadic tribes that roam the less developed regions of soul society. They don't believe in fighting hollows, even keep them as pets sometimes," she slowly recalled.

Yuroichi laughed. "It's good to know the old stories are still going around."

"Are you trying to say she's one of those Rainbow Warriors?" Renji asked incredulously.

"Not like you've heard of them, but yes," the dark woman confidently nodded.

"It's why she doesn't show up on your radar," her old friend added.

"If she's a warrior, perhaps we should go check it out," Ichigo proposed. He was tired of talk and wanted some action.

"I'm gunna go talk to her. Kisuke, would you mind if she wanted to come back here?" she asked again.

"Sure. I rather like her ilk. They've always fascinated me."

"Thanks. I doubt she has arrangements." She turned to leave but turned back to add, "Perhaps you could tell a few stories while I'm gone."

"So, what's the deal?" Ichigo anxiously pressed.

"Yeah!" Renji added emphatically.

Kisuke rolled his eyes beneath the brim of his hat. "Let's see. Rukia-chan's assessment is accurate, if lacking in substance so I guess I'll go from there. Rainbow Warriors are semi-nomadic and their practices are what one might consider shamanic, druidic, or bardic in nature, depending upon the individual or the tribe."

Renji laughed as he remembered the stories he'd heard as a kid. "Tell'em about the part where they were thrown out of the soul society." That had been one of his youthful favorites.

Kisuke's brow furrowed, another gesture that went unnoticed under the brim of his bucket hat. "They shun the soul society because of their attitudes toward hollows. It is my understanding that if at all possible, they do not harm hollows. As far as keeping them as pets, that is an over-simplified and dumb-down version of what they practice. They consider Heuco Mundo and the creatures from it to be just as natural and deserving of respect as anything from either of the other two words."

"I've never met a hollow who deserved respect," Ichigo nearly spat.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Renji agreed and Rukia was quick to nod in agreement.

Ishida even agreed, with a sigh of resignation. "They don't even deserve to be cleansed, but that's another issue entirely."

"I knew you'd say that, but you three are Soul Reapers and you're a Quincy. From what little literature there is on them, I think it's safe to say that you don't have the instinct for mutual respect that the rainbow warriors are said to have. According to them, hollows are reactive, not proactive and with that in mind, they are said to be able to 'handle' hollows to a certain extent."

"Who would want to handle a hollow? That's just insane," Renji scoffed.

The shopkeeper knew that if anyone would remain unswayed by his favorable painting of the supposedly mythical people, it would be the suborn redhead. "They aren't insane. They're pacifists. They don't believe in fighting the hollows."

"Then what do they do with them? I mean, I don't think I've ever seen anyone reason with a hollow, even the arancar are too crazy to talk to," Ichigo pointed out.

"That's part of the mystery, one of their best kept secrets."

"HA!" Renji laughed. "That's 'cause they're not real. From what I heard, even if people like that did exist, they were driven out of Soul Society because they tried to convince people to not fight hollows."

"Well, perhaps after our guest gets comfortable, we can ask her about it. Maybe she can clear a few things up for us?" Kisuke offered, unwilling to continue his explanation if he was going to keep getting interrupted by someone who already had their mind made up.

Yuroichi returned sometime later with the woman in question. They stopped just outside the door for her to gather her bearings. "Before we go in. I wanted to thank you. I was told before my coming to this world that it is customary to seek out others from the soul realm for help getting along in the living realm. I was also told that it would probably be difficult to find someone willing to give me pointers, so I can't say how happy I am that you wanted to see me." She gave a small bow of appreciation.

"Well, as I said, the pleasure is really all mine. I was just telling Kisuke that I haven't met anyone like you in a very long time. I'm sure we have just as many questions as you do."

The woman gave a small, sheepish smile. "I'm surprised you've met one of us before. At least, and know about it." She paused, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath in an attempt to steady herself while getting a feel for who was inside. "Full house tonight, huh?" she gave a nervous laugh.

"They're good people, even if some of they aren't the best at first impressions. Now come on. Let's not keep'em waiting. There's a couple of people in there who don't think you can exist."

They didn't knock. Yuroichi never knocked and because of this, the woman would have difficulty with when it was and wasn't appropriate to knock.

"Okay," Yuroichi began when she appeared with the woman in the doorway to the tea room. "The cutie in the hat is Kisuke, then we have Orihime, Ichigo, Chad, Ishida, Rukia, and Renji," she pointed as she went around the table. "And it looks like they forgot to set places for us so you have a seat and I'll be right back." She disappeared in the direction of the kitchen to get settings for them.

"Here, have a seat," Kisuke motioned, reluctantly moving closer to Renji so that she could sit between him and the kind young girl to his right.

As she did, they got a good look at her. She had black hair that was tied up in messy pigtails piled on her head; it appeared to be rather long, but it was difficult to tell with the way it was done up. She wore a nervous smile that was reflected in her rusty eyes as much as the curve of her lips. There were a couple of little markings on her face, arms, and hands, the meaning of which could not be deciphered by the common eye, with the exception of one. On her right forearm there were seven parallel horizontal lines, each a different color of the rainbow. Her clothes were a simple t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and sturdy boots and she couldn't have stood more than five and half feet tall. "Thank you for having me."

"It's my pleasure," Kisuke gave possibly the most respectful nod that any of them had ever seen.

"I don't know if you're aware but I was actually looking for people like yourselves."

"Why's that?" Renji gruffly inquired.

She seemed unfazed by his gruffness. "Because this world changes so quickly compared to my own that we have trouble keeping track of it. I need some pointers for how to get on," she replied.

That struck a particular chord with Renji and Rukia because they went through a similar transition period and weren't really warned about certain nuances that would have been nice to know about before hand, like coffee and juice boxes for instance. This sudden feeling took them a little aback.

With that Yuroichi was back and after giving their guest her setting, squeezed in between Kisuke and Renji.

"So, do you have a name?" Ichigo suddenly asked.

She blushed a little, "Well…I…" she stammered.

"What? Are you not supposed to tell us or something?" Renji rudely surmised.

She appeared extremely offended by that comment but managed to brush it aside. "I haven't chosen a name for myself yet," she admitted.

"You don't have a name?" Rukia blinked a little stunned.

"I suppose I do have a name…I just haven't found it yet," she replied optimistically.

"Then what are we supposed to call you?" Renji all but demanded.

She shrugged. "I dunno." Then she had a thought. "You knew I was coming here. Did you talk about me? What did you call me?" she asked hopefully.

They thought for a moment before Ishida replied, "We simply referred to you as the Rainbow Warrior because that's what Yuroichi called you."

She frowned a little at that but it didn't last because the woman who brought her here apologized.

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to give them an idea of who you were."

She gave a nod of understanding. "I guess it's good that those stories are still being told but my people are not warriors." She almost laughed at the notion. "That's just what the reapers call us because they don't know any better."

"What would you like to be called?" Renji asked rudely.

"We're more like Rainbow Spirits, it carries much less baggage than that warrior business," she dismissed. When she saw that the two soul reapers actually from the Soul Society still appeared displeased, she added. "But we do recognize that the title of warrior means quite a lot to your people and so feel a certain amount of honor in that regard."

"Honor?" Renji repeated incredulously.

"Watch your tongue Abari," Yuroichi elbowed him hard enough to knock the wind out of him. "So what brings you to this world?" Yuroichi eagerly pressed.

"I brought myself," she replied proudly.

They laughed a little at her misunderstanding while Kisuke amended, "That's a figure of speech. She wants to know why you came here."

"Oh, yes of course. I was told the idioms would be one of the hardest thing to get a handle on. It's customary for my people to become restless from time to time and set out to live a different life for a while before returning to their people. It can be a most enjoyable or even enlightening experience…from what I've heard."

"That sounds wonderful," Orihime marveled. She had often thought about what that would be like.

"I hope it is," she gave the young girl a smile that spoke volumes of her hope.

"How did you get here?" Rukia couldn't help asking.

"Easy, I just pulled back the curtain," She shrugged.

"Curtain?" she repeated.

"Yeah. Hollows tear the fabric of space, Reapers sneak through tunnels and open doors, Humans simply stumble from one realm to another and Rainbow Spirits pull back the curtain."

"I though you people were all secretive. Should you even be telling us this?" Renji asked suspiciously.

She shrugged again, a habit that was getting on the redhead's nerves. "I don't think it matters. I don't exist remember?" she gave a cheeky wink.

"Maybe you shouldn't exist," he proposed. He wasn't sure why, but her presence grated on him.

"You mean that all the spirits should have been purged as they are in the tales? You do realize you're talking about genocide, right?" she defended.

"That's not the same," he tried to counter but will little effect.

"Abarai," Kisuke said in a warning voice.

"This is too heavy of conversation for a first meeting. My people have a saying, 'Friend or foe, no matter, should be met on good terms'," she roughly translated.

"That doesn't make any sense," Ichigo dismissed and only receive an impish grin in response.

"Do you have a place to stay the night?" Kisuke asked.

"Not really," she admitted.

"It just happens that I have an extra room."

"Oh, I couldn't impose like that. Simply getting your advice is more than I could ask for."

"I insist." He continued to press.

"He has a saying," Yuroichi began, "Never let a pretty girl leave without a place to go," she teased.

"Okay, then," she agreed.

* * *

They talked for a while longer before Renji finally got up and left, Followed quickly by Rukia, who wanted to make sure to scold him for being so rude.

"You didn't have to talk to her like that," she started in on him.

"She was just as rude. You heard the way she said Reapers, like it was bitter on her tongue."

"Your tone toward her wasn't any better."

"There's just something weird about people who don't think hollows are the enemy."

Rukia shrugged. "Yeah. I got that feeling too but you can't judge a person on one fact."

The others that remained were more curious about her than offended but when they realized that it was getting a little too late even for their curiosity, the remaining high schoolers also took their leave.

"Well, that was interesting," Ichigo said as they walked away from the shop.

"To say the least," Ishida agreed.

"I never imagined there would be people who thought about hollows like that," the orange-haired young man added.

"It takes all kinds, I guess, " Chad conceded.

"She seemed nice enough to me," Orihime managed to add.

"I'm very sorry for Abarai's rudeness," Yuroichi said after the others had left.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I was warned before I came here that spirits like mine were banished because our ideas were dangerous to their way of life. His reaction was perfectly natural. Besides, I'm not here to change minds."

The older pair liked her answer and showed her to her room.

~Chap fin


	2. Rainbow Warriors

In these times of evil spirits

Of material thugs and mischief

Fear Saint Noni's wisdom

And his love for rainbow spirits

Jealous of their faithful heart-bond

And their dancing and their laughing

Made at last a league against them

To molest them and destroy them

Saint Noni wise and heart-strong

Often said to Rainbowarrior

"O my brother do not leave me!

Lest the evil spirits harm you!"

Rainbowarrior of two spirits

Gentle hand and lion-hearted

He laughed and then he answered

Like a child he softly whispered

We are rainbowarriors

Evil come not near

Rainbow love awaits us

With hearts of love and tears

He's dead our sweetest mother

Loving father and our teacher

He's gone from us forever

He has moved a little nearer

To the master of all laughter

To the master of all song

O my brother, O my brother

Crystal brother of two spirits

Then we gathered in a circle

Stood round the rainbow fire

Burning embers hearts united

We remembered mystical beauty

If you look hard you can find a

Rainbow trail it's deep inside you

Fear not you're a rainbowarrior

Golden light on everything gleaming

We are rainbowarriors

Evil come not near

Rainbow love awaits us

With hearts of love and tears

Rainbowarriors by: CocoRosie

* * *

"St. Noni was the captain commander during the expulsion. He was wise and he was loving but he was also prone to bouts of jealousy." She paused for a moment. "Are you familiar with colonial theories?"

Receiving only blank looks in response, she frowned ever so slightly. It was clear she didn't feel like explaining it to them as it was a fairly complex subject.

The man in the hat seated next to her, luckily, was willing to offer some assistance. "When one group of people believes that their ways are superior above all others and that group colonizes a region inhabited by another, different group, they generally try to force their beliefs on them. Commonly, if there is resistance, there will be violence."

"Okay, yeah. I know what you're talkin' about," Renji conceded, rather pleased with himself.

"Only the two groups we are referring to grew out of the same region. The divergence is ancient, so old that we don't even have stories for it. Anyway, St. Noni, with the support of the major nobility, understood the way of things to be like this, they didn't see a branching out of two equally justifiable beliefs. They saw us as a perversion of their ways and tried to love us into favoring them. When their love was accepted and reciprocated without conversion, the expulsion began." She smirked. "He even told RainbowWarrior, the first leader of our people, that the evil spirits would harm them if they continued to turn their backs on the ways of what we call Reaper Society."

"I don't like the way you say Reapers," Renji finally said.

"Is there something else I should call you?" she asked with more respect than he was expecting.

"No, we're soul reapers it's just…your tone. I can't help but think it's more than a little condescending," he elaborated.

She frowned a little. "I am truly sorry for that. I have been trying to work on it. I hate to admit it and the elders would give me that look if they heard me say this but I'm gunna say it anyway. We are a tolerant, respectful people, or at least we try to be but I'm afraid that some prejudice does get through occasionally."

"Well," Urahara was quick to amend, "I don't think that anyone is immune to that sort of thing. The fact that you realize it's there is the first step to getting rid of it."

"Kisuke-san," she turned to the man at her side. "May I speak with Renji-san alone for a short while?"

He appeared a little disappointed but respected her request just the same. "Just call if you need anything."

"Of course," she replied with a gentle smile and when he was gone she turned back to the redhead. "I don't like the tone you use while speaking of my people either."

He was a little taken aback by the fact that she decided to tell him this one-on-one. The fact of the matter was that he already knew his tone was disrespectful and had started to bother her. "I know…"

"And I understand it's a defense mechanism to help you deal with things you don't understand," she continued.

"I understand just fine," he interrupted.

She pursed her lips. "Perhaps understand was the wrong word. How about you're still coming to terms with my philosophy?" she tried.

His frown didn't falter even though he knew she was really trying to get through to him. Actually, her persistence in trying to do so had started to grate on him. "You say that like one day I'm going to wake up a think you're right."

"That's not what I meant." She made a sound of frustration. "I don't want you to think I'm right." It was apparent he didn't really like that either.

"Then what do you want?"

"I want you to have the same kind of respect for me and my abilities as you do the others. You don't believe the same things they do but you still treat them better than me."

"I don't even know what your abilities are. All I know is that you can play the piano and the guitar and you've got a pretty good voice."

"Thanks," she smiled. "And as far as what my abilities are, I don't think we could really test that."

"Why not?" he was more curious than anything by the idea.

"Well…Since I don't fight we couldn't exactly battle it out and if we couldn't do that then you'd probably want me to get rid of a hollow or something like that and that certainly wouldn't work."

"So your people don't handle hollows?"

Her quirky grin returned. "Handle? In a manner of speaking."

"Then why not show me?"

"'Cause you'd want to be there and your spiritual pressure would only aggravate it, make it almost impossible for me to send it back."

"Send it back? That's what you do?"

"What else? They're drawn away from their realm because of variants in ambient spiritual pressure, so it's pretty easy to send'em back, if you want to."

He shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I just wasn't expecting that."

She giggled. "Ya know, Renji, I really do like you. You've shown me a lot in my short time here. I want you to know that."

"Me? I ain't showed you nothin'!"

She giggled again before giving him a solemn nod. "Of course. But thank you anyway."

It was clear that she'd made him uncomfortable so to make up for it, she excused herself to make some tea.

He sat for quite some time staring at the place where she had been. It felt like her presence still lingered there and a part of him felt obliged to keep it company until it had dissipated.

* * *

To her surprise, Urahara had already started a new kettle just as she walked into the kitchen.

"How was your talk with Abari?" he asked, obviously a little put off that he'd been asked to leave.

She shrugged. "Good enough. I doubt we will ever come to an understanding but the fact that he speaks to me at all is good enough for me. Though, there is something I wanted to ask you about," she diverted.

"Oh? What's that?"

"The orange-haired boy who comes here. He is very special, isn't he?" she asked knowingly.

"What do you know about him?" he replied with equal knowing, though he knew nothing about the knowledge she might possess.

The young woman shrugged. "Only what I can sense from him."

Kisuke sighed. "Which is generally quite a lot. He does have a difficult time keeping his reitsu in check."

She nodded with understanding. "That much reitsu would be difficult to control," she conceded. "But you didn't answer my question."

"His name is Kurosaki Ichigo." He answered, then began to list off some of the more mundane details of the young man's life, like his school, friends, and interests.

These uneventful bits of information obviously annoyed her a bit but she took it in stride. It was only fair for him to be mysterious if she was going to do the same. "I see. Well, I hope I get to see more of him," she answered with an impish grin and let the matter drop.

After a nice, quite cup of tea she was about to excuse herself when there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get that," he offered hastily, not wanting to miss the newest interesting person to enter the candy shop.

"That's quite alright. It's an old friend of mind and he would give me a hard time if I made you do such a simple chore for me," Kisuke evaded as he stood.

The young woman quirked an odd look but shrugged and let him be. "I'll start another kettle then?"

"I'm not sure that will be necessary," he dismissed rather rudely and then was gone to answer the door.

Obviously put off by his rudeness, the young woman went back to the sitting room where Renji was just getting ready to leave. She caught him before he could get too far down the hall. "Excuse me, Renji-san," she quitely pulled him aside.

"What is it now?" he grumbled.

"I'm just curious. Who is the person at the door?" she asked impishly.

Renji took a moment to feel out the nearby reitsu before replying, "That's weird. Shinji doesn't usually come here. I wonder what he's up to..." he trailed off before wandering that direction as nonchalantly as he could, which was still very obvious.

Since Renji saw fit to butt into the apparently private conversation, the young woman decided to hang back a bit and observe from a distance to see what she could glean that way. Just from his spiritual pressure, she could tell what he was and it titillated her, but it wasn't until she caught a glimpse of him as Urahara led him to the underground training facility to speak privately that she decided that she needed to speak to him as well. She just needed to wait for the opportunity to do so.

Urahara was surprised that his pretty young guest didn't pester him further about his old friend. He figured that after brushing her off so harshly, she would continue to pry, but she didn't. He even half-expected her to try to sneak down after them to eavesdrop on their private conversation, especially since it pertained to Ichigo and his ongoing vizard training, but she didn't. If he hadn't been so relieved, he would have wondered why, done some prying of his own, and found out that she already had a fair idea what their situation was.

"You seem more paranoid than usual. What's up?" Shinji asked his old friend when they reached the bottom of the ladder.

"It's nothing. I was just expecting someone to try to follow us but I guess she knows to leave well enough alone," he shrugged.

"Ah yes, that pretty little thing with the pigtails Yuroichi's been going on about. Is she really a rainbow spirit?" Shinji pressed eagerly. He hadn't actually seen her but he trusted Yuroichi's assessments.

"I don't see what else she could be," he laughed. "They're a strange lot, that's for sure. Most people would have been more annoyed at how I put her off to talk to you like this," he almost laughed.

"They have their ways...at least that's what I've heard. I've never actually met one before," Shinji shrugged.

"Neither have I. Yuroichi is the only one I know who's met a rainbow spirit before and that was a long time ago, when we were still kids. She got lost in the forest way outside of the city walls and she said that one of led her back," Kisuke explained.

"Then how does she know that was one of them?" the thinner blonde challenged. "If she was just a child-"

Kisuke cut him off. "That's how she knew. Things like that are more apparent to children. Besides, she said the man who led her back to the city had many of the same markings as the young lady upstairs, most notably a rainbow band tattooed around her forearm. Not that it matters, you're not here to talk about her, are you?" he diverted.

Shinji shrugged again and they got down to business.

They finished talking a few short hours later and he promptly left, as it wasn't his custom to stay longer than necessary at the candy shop. He caught of glimpse of the young woman lurking on the edges of his vision on his way out. He wanted to say something but she disappeared as soon as he looked at her so he shrugged and gave up.

As soon as he was gone, she was pestering Kisuke about his guest. "So...who's your friend?"

The man in the hat shook his head. "That's Shinji Hirako. Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"I didn't realize there were people like him in this world...and now I've seen two. Well, to say that he and Ichigo are the same would be an oversimplification, don't you think?" she babbled.

"Something like that," he muttered. "Does it really matter what they are?"

The young woman shook her head in astonishment. "I keep forgetting that you don't know very much about my people. People like them are...special. We strive to be like them," she tried to explain.

"You can't be serious. No one wants to have a hollow inside them, constantly battling to take control," Kisuke argued, but then remembered who he was talking to. "I'm sorry. I don't understand."

"They are the perfect fusion of beings," she stated as simply as she could.

The shopkeeper shook his head in disbelief.

"Do you know of others like him?" she asked hopefully.

Her hopefulness was disconcerting for her host but he answered anyway. "Yes. There are several of them that live together."

She pursed her lips for a moment. "Are they all so young?"

"Young?" he repeated incredulously, suddenly wondering how old she was.

"Well, young for a duel soul. All the ones I know from back home are much older. It is sort of a final rite of passage before becoming a leader in the community," she explained.

"Ah, I see..." he replied hesitantly.

She let the matter drop after that and went to start thinking of ways of becoming acquainted with this new group of individuals.


	3. Chapter 3

One day, about a week after Shinji's visit to the Urahara shop, the young woman now staying with the shopkeeper and his already rather unusual family decided that since the man in question didn't seem like he was coming back any time soon, she was going to look for him. It didn't take her very long to find the vizards' warehouse but when she sensed the forcefeild surrounding the rather imposing structure, she hesitated.

She had been about to carefully walk through the large sliding double doors of the building when the foreboding energy stopped her dead in her tracks. Since it was obvious that they didn't generally want visitors, especially those coming unannounced, she didn't know what to do, so she took to sitting on a bench across the street and staring at the large building.

As she sat and debated whether it was all right to simply enter or if she should wait for someone to come out, the decision was made for her about an hour later. A large, muscular man with white hair emerged. He took a moment to scan the surrounding area but when his eyes fell on the petite young woman seated across the street, he stopped, a curious look appearing in his eyes.

He didn't bother to look for cars, or more likely trucks, before crossing the street to greet her. "Can I help you?" he asked carefully.

The young woman gave a bashful grin. "I feel very silly now," she admitted.

Kensei chuckled and took up the seat on the other side of the long bench. "Why's that?"

She thought it a bit strange that he would automatically put so much distance between them after so easily sitting down with her but she let that go for the time being. "Well, I wanted to come in and meet all of you," she answered with an impish grin.

"So why not just come in?" he quesioned somewhat incredulously. Usually, those could find their home didn't have any qualms about simply entering. It wasn't like they kept a guard at the door or anything.

"Well, your forcefield is rather intimidating. It made me think you didn't want visitors," she carefully answered.

"Oh? They don't have those kinds of things where you come from?" Kensei assumed while letting her know that he was at least partially aware of who she was.

"We do...but they're only used in emergencies," she replied cautiously. "Once one is in place, we know that whatever is inside is best avoided."

To her surprise, the large white-haired man laughed at that. "That's one way of putting it."

She couldn't help smiling a little at his laughter, even if it was a little bitter, simply because she was happy to have avoided offending him. "So, should I leave then?" she assumed, her smile falling.

Kensei shrugged. "Do what you want. Just don't loiter around outside. It's weird," he teased.

The young woman's smile returned. "I think I'll go in then," she announced as she stood.

"I'll go with you," he informed, though he was really just going back inside. "I'm Kensei," he introduced as they passed the threshold of the forcefield.

"Pleased to meet you," she nodded surely and then focused her attention on what was ahead of them instead. She was surprised that he didn't ask for her name in return.

He didn't ask because Yuroichi had been to visit them since her arrival and couldn't help sharing every little detail that she had thus far acquired. While he found it somewhat irritating that they didn't have anything to call her, it didn't really matter because when they were talking about her, there was no doubt that they were speaking about her.

He waited until they were near the other to ask his next question. "So, why come here anyway?"

Knowing that her answer wasn't for his benifit alone, she answered as carefully as she could. "I didn't know there were people like you in this world. I wanted to meet you, see how you were getting along."

"So? What do you think?" Lisa quickly countered.

The spectacled woman's aggressive undertone made their guest hesitate. "I'm not sure how I should reply to that," she admitted after a moment.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hyori spat.

"Well, you all seem fine...I just wonder then, why is there such a strong forcefield surrounding this place?" she managed.

"Usually, it's to keep creepy strangers out," the tiny blonde nearly shouted.

"Ah, but Hyori," Shinji quickly interrupted when he saw that they weren't exactly making the best first impression. "Kensei obviously invited her in. You should be a little nicer."

"I don't gotta be nice to nobody," the young girl growled, her angry eyes now darting between Shinji and their guest.

"No, but it'd be nice if you weren't a brat all the time," Kensei grumbled and then took a moment to introduce his comrades. "It was because of the forcefield that she didn't come in," he informed.

"Then why hang around?" Lisa questioned.

"Well..." she blushed a little, "after seeing Shinji at the shop, you didn't seem as bad as anything I've seen in forcefields before." She stole a quick glance at the thin blonde standing a few feet from her. "I wasn't sure what to do."

"Well, I'm glad that Kensei decided to go get you then. We're really not as bad as we seem," Shinji half-teased. "We were just about to sit down for lunch. Would you care to join us?"

The young woman's eyes lit up. "I would love to," she replied seriously. She had so many questions for them but she got the feeling it would be wiser not to simply start asking everything that came to mind. However, she couldn't help from asking a few when the opportunity arose.

Kensei noticed that she kept looking around, as though she was searching for something, and didn't think twice before saying something to her about it. "You lookin' for something?"

"Oh, uh," she stammered at first, unsure how they would react to her answer. "I'm sort of getting the impression that you all are from the soul society, rather than one of the tribes I haven't met." She had become acquainted with most of the different groups of her people that lived throughout the more natural portions of the soul realm and heard about the others.

"That's right. So?" Lisa prompted. Fortunately, she was more interested than accusitory this time.

"I was wondering if any of you still had your swords," she bashfully admitted.

"We all do," Shinji answered. "We just don't carry them around all the time."

The young woman appeared pensive for a moment but her thoughts were interrupted.

"What's the matter?" Kensei pressed.

"Oh, I wondering if it would be improper to ask to see them," she answered thoughtfully and received some very odd looks in response.

"It's not improper, just weird," Moshiro replied.

"Well, apparently, I'm already pretty weird, so may I?" she asked hopefully.

After they were finished with their lunch, the vizards all left for a moment to get their weapons, returning a few moments later. The young woman appeared awestruck as the armed group approached her and although they obviously weren't going to attack her, she couldn't help being a little nervous.

"I understand that your relationships with these weapons is somewhat unique," she began after swallowing the bundle of nerves that had gathered in her throat. "You can communicate with them?"

"You act like you've never seen a zanpacto before," Hyori scoffed.

"She probably hasn't," Kensei informed.

"I've caught glimpses of a few before. D-Do you still use them?" the young woman asked carefully.

"When we have to," Hachi answered.

"I suppose it would be cruel to abandon a comrade like that..." the young woman muttered, mostly to herself.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hyori demanded fitfully.

"Just that I can understand not wanting to abandon the entity within your weapons after spending so much time together," she tried.

"What, like we were supposed to just ditch'em after we left soul society?" the short blonde continued, becoming even more agitated.

"It doesn't seem like you would need them here, at least not for their function as a weapon. Am I wrong to assume that you keep them out of a sense of companionship?" she questioned carefully.

They were a little astonished by the notion. Sure, even if they didn't really need their swords in the living realm, they would have still kept them around just in case, for self-defense. As it were, there were people and things out there that threatened them, both as individuals and a group, so there was never any thought of dicarding them.

"You are wrong to assume that we don't need them," Lisa corrected.

"Oh..." the young woman sank in her seat.

"This isn't exactly the safest city and we're hardly everybody's favorite people," Kensei tried.

That's when she realized that this group hadn't left soul society voluntarily. "I see," she thoughtfully replied.

"What did you expect? You want us to sit around and hide like a bunch of cowards?" Hyori snapped.

"No, not at all. I just didn't realize..." she tried but her words failed her.

"You got enough reitsu to get attacked here. What are you gunna do when that happens?" the small girl questioned harshly.

"It's not like she has to worry about hollows," Kensei tried to defend.

"So? In case you haven't been paying attention, they're not the only thing out there," Hyori corrected then turned back to their guest. "So? What do you do then? Just run away? You can't run forever!"

The young woman frowned. "I didn't mean to upset you," she tried to ease but it didn't work.

Hyori drew her sword and pointed it at the young woman. "I bet I could kick your ass," she bragged.

Appalled, the young woman scooted back a little. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"What ya gunna do?" the small blonde stepped forward.

Kensei was about to stop her but Shinji gave a silent motion that indicated he wanted to see what would happen.

The young woman stammered for a moment, but before she could reply, Hyori lunged at her. It was clear that she had no intention of really harming the young woman, but she did do a more than sufficient job of startling her. When she saw that the woman could at least dodge her attacks, the young girl made a better effort of going after her.

"Aren't you even going to defend yourself?" Hyori taunted.

"I don't understand why you're doing this," the young woman fretted. "I haven't done anything to you. I'm sorry if I offended you!" she tried to reason. When it became clear that her apologies weren't having any effect, she tried a different tactic. "I don't know what I did wrong, but I should go," she started to back toward the ramp she entered on.

That's when Shinji finally stepped in. "That's enough, Hyori. She's not going to fight you."

"Tch, get out of my way. She's got that much reitsu, she's gotta be able to do more than dodge!" the young blonde demanded.

"Yes, well, attacking her doesn't seem to be doing any good," Shinji informed flatly then turned to their guest who was trembling lightly. "Are you okay? She wouldn't have really hurt you," he assured. "She just wanted to see how you'd react.

"I know...It's just- I've never been attacked before." She put her hand on her chest to feel her still frantic heart.

"You've never been attacked? Ever? By anything?" Moshiro marveled.

The young woman shook her head and caught her breath.

"How did you manage that?" the green-haired woman pressed.

"It's just never happened. I don't think I've known anyone who's been attacked." There were stories about attacks during and shortly after their expulsion from soul society but none since.

"Why don't you come back and sit down again? I promise that won't happen again," he tried, though he knew that while he could stop one of Hyori's attacks, he couldn't exactly stop her from attacking altogether.

"Uh, no, that's alright. I should probably be going anyway. Thanks though," she replied honestly.

"Oh, alright then," he sighed. "Well, feel free to come back whenever you like. We don't get many visitors," he joked.

She found that to be an odd thing to joke about since she had gotten such a strong impression of how little they wanted visitors.

"Maybe, I could walk you back?" he offered hopefully when she didn't respond to his offer to return.

"If you'd like," she conceded. She didn't need an escort but it appeared he wanted to keep her company for a while longer. Since they were getting away from the scene that caused her so much confusion and distress, she didn't argue.

Kensei was a little annoyed that he hadn't made the offer first, especially since he was the one who invited her in, but he got the feeling, he would see her again anyway. So, he took his irritation out on Hyori. "What'd you do that for?" he griped.

"She was askin' for it," the young girl dismissed.

"It's not like she was in any real danger," Lisa dismissed.

"But you knew she wouldn't retaliate," the white-haired man continued.

Hyori rolled her eyes. "She won't survive another week if she keeps up that attitude, especially in this town."

"That's what the soul society said when the rainbow spirits left all those hundreds of years ago," Hachi pointed out just as the little blonde stalked off.

* * *

When Shinji and the young woman emerged from the warehouse and started down the street, he tried apologizing again. "I'm sorry Hiyori came after you like that. She's really a good kid, even if she tries to act all tough."

The young woman laughed a little. "It's no big deal, really. I just wasn't expecting it. That's all."

Shinji breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry for assuming that you left soul society on your own," she managed.

The tall blonde frowned a little. "I can understand why you made the assumption." Of course, his understanding was based on what little knowledge he had of her people.

"I'm guessing then that you want to go back there someday?" she proposed, trying to sound hopeful even though the idea bothered her.

"That's the plan. We just have a lot of crap to deal with before that can happen," he replied. Just thinking about the upcoming battle with is former subordinate made him angry enough to scream, but he did well to hide that urge.

"I see..." she said softly as she pondered her next words.

"Why do you ask?" he pressed, mostly to keep the conversation going.

"Well, I do not fully understand your situation, nor do I claim to be capable of that kind of understanding, so I hope it's not offensive to make this offer: if you or any of your companions want to return to the soul realm without bothering with the soul society, you would be more than welcome to come live with my people. We would be more than happy to have you join our communities," she tried.

Shinji had a feeling something like that was coming, but it surprised him how deeply the offer struck him. "Thank you, that means a lot, but we're pretty set on getting home," he assured gratefully, almost sad that he had to decline her offer.

She heard the sadness in his voice and returned it with a warm smile. "I had a feeling you would say that but the offer stands, even if you would just want to visit."

"That might be nice..." he muttered, trying to imagine what one of her communities would be like.

A short while later, they were in front of the shop and getting ready to part ways.

"Thank you for letting me visit with you today," she told him earnestly through a slight blush.

"I'm glad you came. As I said, you are welcome back whenever you wish," he offered again.

She simply nodded and started to turn toward the door but hesitated. "Um, Shinji..." she began quietly as she turned back to him.

"Yes?" he prompted with equal quietness though he wasn't sure why.

Shinji gasped as she suddenly reached up, grabbed his collar, and pulled him in for a kiss. He fumbled for a moment and then tried to kiss her back. He wasn't exactly sure what to think of her advance but at this point, he didn't feel like denying her. When they parted a few seconds later, they were both a little short of breath and Shinji was blinking downward at her in confusion.

He was just about to ask what the kiss was for when she politely said good bye and ducked inside. Now that he would have to follow her to find out, he decided to just let it go for now and enjoy the fact that he'd been kissed by someone who was almost a complete stranger.

* * *

When she returned to the shop, Urahara was all but waiting for her. "I see you made a new friend," he commented slyly.

"Something like that," she muttered, obviously embarrassed that he was calling her out so quickly. "Is that bad?" she almost challenged.

Urahara shrugged. "It is neither good nor bad. I am pleased to see you are making friends, and if you were a different person, I would question your taste," he teased.

She laughed at him a little before turning serious. "Can I talk to you about them for a bit?"

"Oh? You met more than just Shinji today?" he presumed. "Sure, we can talk. What is it?"

"They were driven out of soul society," she stated.

"That is correct."

"But they want to go back," she continued.

"Also correct."

"But they won't be accepted there," she tried to argue.

"That's not necessarily true. Right now that might be the case but things can change. You may not want to hear this, but there are battles still to be fought for their right to return home."

The young woman frowned. "They would have better lives if they didn't fight those battles."

"I'm sure you realize that is not your decision to make. They want to reclaim what has been taken from them and avenge the wrongs against them. Their cause is just," he assured.

"What wrongs?" she questioned.

"They fled soul society because of what they became but they did not intentionally become what they are. Someone else forced that upon them. I'm sure your people would also find that offensive even though you value 'duel souls'," he quoted he wording to try to make her understand.

"Someone forced the transformation?" she gasped. "No wonder they're all so young." Her thoughts raced for a moment. "But fighting the one who transformed them won't change them back."

"They realize that but it is what they believe to be right. I know you have a difficult time understanding why anyone would want to fight another but-" he tried to explain in the least demeaning terms possible.

"But that is the world that they come from," she finished for him with a sigh of resignation.

"Does that mean you don't want to see them again? Shinji would be very confused and disappointed if that was a good-bye forever kiss," he teased to lighten the mood.

"I'm asking you these questions because I do want to see them again. So far, you've been the most patient person I've met on this journey. You don't get angry when I question the way people do things," she pointed out gratefully. "I want to better understand who I'm talking to so I don't make such a fool of myself again," she laughed.

Curiosity piqued, he couldn't help asking what she meant and she ended up recounting the entire visit for him while he dissected their behavior for her. Though she still didn't quite understand why Hiyori attacked her, she came away from their discussion feeling a lot better about the encounter.


	4. Sing Along

If i sing a song,  
will you sing along,  
If i sing a song,  
will you sing along,  
If i sing a song,  
will you sing along,  
or should I just keep singing right here by myself?

Ba baba dada baba...

If i tell you I'm strong,  
will you play along,  
If i tell you I'm strong,  
will you play along,  
If i tell you I'm strong,  
will you play along,  
Or would you see I'm as insecure as everybody else

Its like..

Ba Ba Baba Daba ba...

If I follow along,  
does it mean I belong,  
If I follow along,  
does it mean I belong,  
If I follow along,  
does it mean I belong,  
or will I keep on feeling different from everybody else?

Its life...

Ba Bada Ba Ba Dababa.. Oh Oh Oh

If I sing a song, will you sing along,  
If I sing a song, will you sing that song,  
or should I just keep singing right here by myself

If I sing a song, will you sing along,  
If I sing a song, should i just keep singing right here by,  
should I just keep singing by myself

If I sing a song, would you sing along,  
Would you, Could you Sing along  
Should I just keep singing right here by, by myself

Should I, Should I

Sing a song, (baba) Sing along, (baba)  
Would you still sing along, (baba)  
Please, or should I just keep right here singing by myself

If I still sing a song (baba), would you sing along,  
Sing with me, or just Take it home,  
or I'll just keep singing right here by myself

Sing Along by The Blue Man Group featuring Dave Mathews

* * *

It didn't take long for Meimei, as she had come to be called, to become friends with the rogue vizard clan and she found herself spending time at their warehouse more frequently than she expected. Even though they were different from anyone she'd ever met, they still made her feel at home in the strange world she was exploring. And for the most part, they enjoyed her company, even if Hyori still insisted on occasionally going after the strange young woman.

Spending time at the warehouse had other perks as well. It gave her more opportunities to see Ichigo and Shinji, two people that she had quickly grown very fond of but for very different reasons.

Strangely, she found that Ichigo was the easiest pesron to talk to, at least that she met so far. Well, the others who noticed this found it strange. On the other hand, it made perfect sense to Meimei.

Rukia had even teased her about it once. "How can you stand to listen to him try to explain things? He's really terrible at it, and he doesn't really know what's going on," she teasingly complained.

Meimei didn't bother answering with more than a little laughter. What the young soul reaper considered a lack of eloquence and insight sounded to the rainbow spirit like a taste of home.

She pondered these things as she walked along side Ichigo on his way to go train with the vizards and listened to Ichigo talk about his day. Her thoughts were interrupted when he started speaking about her, unwittingly forcing her to pay closer attention to their conversation.

"I'm kinda surprised that you want to watch me train," he finally said once the warehouse was in sight.

"Why's that?" she asked, though she knew the answer.

"'Cause, ya know, you don't fight or anything. Urahara said that you were attacked for the fist time ever not that long ago," he managed.

"Wouldn't you want to see something you'd never seen before?" she questioned teasingly.

"I dunno..." he hedged. Sure, he liked to see new things but usually he liked to see new things that didn't completely go against his philosophy on life. As far as he could tell, that was exactly what combat training would be for a rainbow spirit.

"Is it true that in addition to an individual personality, each of your swords has a unique ability?" she eagerly shifted the subject.

"Uh, yeah. It's pretty weird, especially because when you're fighting someone for the first time, you really don't know what they're capable of," he laughed as he remembered some of his stranger fights.

"But not all of those abilities are necessarily for combat, right?" she pressed.

Ichigo finally understood why she wanted to watch him train. "Usually they are, but not always. Swords that can heal are especially freaky," he commented with a slight shudder.

She giggled at his shudder. "Indeed," she agreed.

"And here we are," Ichigo motioned once they arrived. "I'll see if I can get'em to take turns so you can see what each of their swords can do," he offered.

"That would be splendid," she cheered.

Unfortunately, it was Hiyori's turn to go first and she was stubborn as ever, feeling that a pacifist shouldn't sit around and watch people fight. When Ichigo finally got her to use her shikai, she refused to do anything special with it.

"Come on, you can do better than that. Do something cool," the orange-haired teen taunted.

"Nothin' doin'!" Hiyori shot back. "Yer just showin' off for the coward!" she accused.

"She just wants to see your shikai's special ability," he tried to coax.

Hiyori stopped fighting and cross her arms over her chest in a huff. "I ain't doin' this for her, shithead! An' if that's why you're here today, then count me out!" she stormed off.

Ichigo sighed with exasperation. "Sorry about that, but you know how she is," he tried.

Meimei nodded. Actually, she had been more than a little nervous about seeing the aggressive young blonde's special ability.

"What's the brat so piss'd about now?" Kensei asked as he approached. It was nearly his turn anyway, so he crossed paths with her as she grumbled and kicked things on her way to the fridge.

"She doesn't like my observing," Meimei quickly answered, fearing that the other fighters might have similar feelings as their youngest counterpart.

"That's kinda funny," the white-haired man laughed and immediately started with his shikai. "Outta anybody, I'd rather show a pacifist what I'm capable of. At least I know you won't use it against me," he chuckled as he attacked Ichigo.

Meimei gave a startled squeek when the pair of fighters came within a few feet of her. She could hear their labored breathing and smell the sweat on their skin, and when their swords clashed loudly right in front of her, she nearly jumped out of her seat.

Kensei noticed her reaction, and it made him laugh a little, though she couldn't hear that over the sound of her own heart racing. He wondered why she was so fascinated by their violence. It obviously scared the shit out of her, but she kept her eyes riveted on them no matter where they were or what they were doing, even though he could see her trembling and it looked like she would bolt at any moment. She had never seen anything like it before, and it fascinated her to see two people behave in such a way.

Amused by her obvious fascination and wondering if he could frighten her enough to leave her seat, Kensei didn't think twice before unleashing his air blades on his opponent. To his surprise, Meimei squealed with delight as the non-lethal portion of the air blew passed her and messed up her hair.

The white-haired man couldn't help laughing a little at her reaction, causing Ichigo to do the same.

"Do it again!" she cheered as she rose to her feet.

With a chuckle, Kensei motioned for Ichigo to stand aside and he aimed at one of the larger boulders a few meters away. A strong slash later, the boulder was falling to pieces with another great rush of wind.

She was a little disappointed that he felt the need to actually destroy something to show off for her but did well not to let it show, which worked out well because a moment later Shinji was emerged, performing a slow clap.

"Very good," the tall blonde teased. "But did you have to make such a mess?"

"Hey, we can't all just turn everything around. Some of us actually have to do damage," Kensei taunted in return.

"Turn everything around?" Meimei repeated quietly to herself, wondering what that might mean.

"Yeah, Shinji's shikai does some crazy stuff," Ichigo informed.

Shinji turned to their guest to see her anxiously biting her bottom lip. He could tell she wanted to see what he was capable of but was unsure about asking. With a smirk, he released his zanpacto and started it spinning.

"If you're gunna do that, I'm outta here. That shit always makes me queasy," Kensi teasingly complained before making his exit.

Ichigo took that as his cue to sit down. It always took him a few minutes of looking like an utter fool before he could even start to get the hang of Shinji's inverted space.

The blonde's smirk grew when he saw that Meimei was the only one still standing, her eyes transfixed on his rotating blade. Since she was so distracted, he thought he'd try to catch her off guard. He reached out and wrapped a sure arm around her waist, pulling her close to his side. He felt her tense when his sword cut through the air in front of her face without touching her.

Once the illusion was complete and Shiniji's sword stopped swinging, Meimei took a moment to look around and gather her bearings. Unfortunately, at least at first, looking around was the exact opposite of what she needed to do to gather her bearings. She felt the tall blonde chuckle lightly when she looked up, or down rather, and held a little tighter to him when she realized they were upside down.

After a moment, she realized she wouldn't fall and felt a little foolish at her reaction. "So...is everything just upside down, or is it backward to?" she asked as she cautiously tried to move away from him only to move a little close.

"Everything is backward," he assured.

A mischievous grin grew on Meimei's face as she succeeded in moving away from him. Shinji watched her curiously as she tested her movements.

"This is amazing!" she finally raved. "What an amazing perspective!" she twirled.

Shinji shook his head. He had a feeling that she would adapt easily to his shikai's ability but he still didn't expect how easily she would adapt. In a matter of moments, she was dancing around and giggling.

"Can we do this outside?" she asked hopefully.

"It is possible," Shinji carefully conceded. "But it tends to draw bit of attention."

"And rightfully so!" she assured.

Seeing that Meimei and Shinji were effectively caught up with one another, Ichigo slowly gathered his bearings and left the space that Shinji's shikai affected in hopes of finding another training partner. Finding that no one was interested, he gave up and went back to the shop. He almost asked Meimei if she wanted to go but it was clear by how seriously she and Shinji were flirting in the blonde vizard's inverted space, he should let them be.

Shinji took her back to the shop a short while later. Again, she kissed him but this time he was less surprised and more readily reciprocated.

This became something of a routine for them. Meimei would go with Ichigo to the vizards' warehouse. When Shinji wasn't busy, which was more often than not, they pair would run off into the inverted space to flirt and even dance when he felt like pulling out his record player and dusting off his old records. The trick was to position the space around them just right so the record wouldn't play backward.

* * *

One afternoon when Shinji walked her back to the shop, they were met with more company than usual, and he was surprised by the variance in reactions her presence elicited from the others. He was especially taken aback by how dismissive and even rude Renji and Rukia seemed to be toward her. He almost said something to them about it, but Meimei seemed undisturbed by their attitude, so he let it go.

After letting Kisuke know that she was back, the pair ducked into her room so they could say good-bye in private. This had also become routine after it became painfully apparent that they wouldn't get through even the smallest affection without someone seeing and saying something to one of them about it.

"Ah," Shinji sighed with contentment once they were alone.

"What is it?" she asked, sensing there was something on his mind.

"I was just wondering..." he began reluctantly. "How a guy like me got so lucky, that's all," he mused.

"Oh?" was all she could manage through the blush his comment illicited.

"Yeah, how'd a guy like me catch a woman like you?" he half-teased but only to hide how serious he was.

"Ah, yes but…what would a man like you have with a woman who giggles at strange things? A woman who cannot make sense of the most sensible things?" she pressed, knowing deep down that he had a good answer.

"You are a woman and your sense for nonsense was what first turned my head. Please, if you won't give me any other mind, then leave me with a kiss and disappear while my eyes are still closed," he dramatically proposed. It was the only way he could bring himself to see if he could get some sort of commitment out of her.

She gave a mock-pout at his resignation. "I only get to kiss you if I disappear? That's hardly fair," she teased.

Her tone made his grin return. "If you don't, I'll be the one who starts the kissin' this time," he warned.

Before he had the chance, she closed the gap between them. "I'm afraid I can't disappear," she said with feigned disappointment. "I'm far to short to kiss you." Even though she had done so many times in the past, she always had to pull him down to her to make it work. Since he was threatening to take the initiative this time, she wanted to let him.

That was all he had to hear before he took her chin in one hand and brought his lips down to hers, sealing their fate with a soft, slow kiss.

Shinji's head nearly hit the ground a moment later. Only the fact that their embrace had turned from tentative to protective saved him. He collapsed so quickly that she barely had the reflexes to catch him and gave a gasp of surprise, stumbling under the unexpected extra weight. In what could best be described as a controlled fall, they landed relatively unharmed.

As she adjusted him in her arms, she examined him. This man wasn't exactly feint of heart and she began to worry about what had dropped him so quickly. One glance into the peaceful, and somehow rather pleased, look on the blonde vizard's features and she breathed a sigh of relief which was quickly followed by a light blush of embarrassment as understanding began to dawn upon her.

This revelation was interrupted a moment later when someone came to make sure the commotion that was heard from a couple rooms over hadn't left anyone injured.

"Is everything okay? It sounded like someone fell-" Orihime immediately stopped when she saw the strange woman for whom she had always felt a sort of affectionate curiosity toward sitting with Shinji's head in her lap. He appeared to be asleep.

"Orihime-san," the woman gave a respectful nod. "Everything is fine, wonderful in fact," she continued in a quiet voice.

"I see. I'm sorry for barging in-" she tried to apologize.

"No. I thank you. Your concern is much appreciated." She paused and, after the moment of seriousness passed, she continued. "I was a little worried too. I didn't realize what was happening until he was unconscious," she mused.

"What happened?" she asked, glad that she had been given the opportunity to.

"I love this man," the woman replied simply before returning her gaze to the face nestled in her lap, fingers never ceasing in their idle playing with his hair. That was as close as she was going to come to saying that she had given him part of her soul.

Now the teenage girl really felt as though she was intruding. "I-I'm very…happy for you," she managed.

The woman gave a dry smile. "You are," she agreed unquestioningly but then added, "But the others will question the purity of my feelings."

Orihime frowned deeply. She knew it was true. In fact, they had just been debating that and similar issues in the room from which she had just come. But to her surprise, that solemn expression earned her a giggle.

"Bleh! Sorry, I shouldn't be so formal! This is a happy moment!" She raised her voice just enough for conviction's sake for fear of disturbing the sleeping man, though she had a feeling that was highly unlikely at this point. "But why don't you keep it our little secret for now? I mean, I haven't even told Hakaro-san yet. If they ask, just tell'em we were screwin' around, 'kay?"

"Sure. I can do that," she almost turned to leave. "Wait, he doesn't know?"

That made the woman laugh again. "I think he has a pretty good idea."

After that, Orihime's curiosity was satisfied enough to let her leave but she took a moment during her short walk between the two rooms to gather her composure before rejoining her friends.

"What happened?" Ichigo was the first to ask when she rejoined him.

"Oh, they were just messing around and got carried away. No harm done, really," she brushed it off.

"Tch, figures," Renji scoffed.

Orihime did her best not to react to that.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuroichi pressed of the rude redhead.

"I don't mean to sound like I care about either of them but…there's just something about their relationship," he phrased as carefully as he could and ended up trailing off.

The dark woman, who had remained largely silent on that issue, pursed her lips and gave a sigh. "I know what you mean."

"I don't see why it matters," Ichigo dismissed. He had been much happier discussing different techniques for slaying hollows.

"It doesn't seem like it's for the right reasons," Rukia tried to explain.

The silence that followed that statement only seemed to prove what the woman had told her young confidant. "I dunno…I think they really like each other," Orihime weakly defended. She couldn't just sit there but that was as far as she was willing to tip her hand.

Renji scoffed again.

"He's not saying they don't," Yuroichi half-defended. "I just wish there was a way of knowing," she shrugged.

"Knowing what?" Ichigo pressed, unwilling to let them dance around the subject like that.

"She wants him 'cause he's part hollow and he wants her 'cause that makes her easy," Renji pointedly explained.

Orihime nearly reached across the table to slap him and lost any defensive words in keeping herself in check.

"So what?" Ichigo pointed out. "If they're happy, I don't see what difference it makes why. It's not like they're hurting anybody." He would have defended that stance regardless but this time he felt a special interest.

"You're just sayin' that 'cause you're one'a them!" Renji accused. "I've seen the way she treats ya."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, his unwillingness to physically shut his friend up was quickly evaporating. "If you don't lay off, I'm gunna throttle you," he threatened and that was all it took before they finally digressed into wrestling around and name-calling.

* * *

Shinji blinked awake nearly an hour later and gave a soft mewl at the feeling of her dexterous fingers playing with his hair. He was obviously surprised and disoriented but seeing her smiling face beaming down at him calmed him considerably. "I just had the most amazing…well, I don't know what it was." He felt a mild disappointment in himself at his lack of eloquence.

"Shhh," she placed a finger over his lips. "You had a vision but don't talk about it. No language you speak or contrive will never do it justice."

That only made his disappointment deepen but he fell silent just the same.

"It was for you, no one else. Even if you could describe it, no one will know what it means but you. It's like a dream or hallucination; you're the only one who has a chance of understanding it."

He felt a little more satisfied with that, though, he always did when she spoke in that tone. He even smiled when he realized that.

"What?" she felt a pinned by his playful look.

"That tone you just used. It gives away your age," he told her with a cheeky grin.

She blushed and stopped stroking his hair. "Just how old do you think I am?"

"I can't say for sure," he finally sat up, mostly so he could get a better look into her eyes, "But you're definitely older than I am. Only people older than me talk like that."

"How old are you then?" she asked haughtily.

He smirked. "Let's say, somewhere between three and five hundred…Really I stopped keeping close track after two."

"Then you're right."

"I don't think you're as old as the captain commander, though," he mused.

She was unwilling to validate that one way or the other. "Is my age an issue to you?"

"Not particularly. I just thought you should know."

"Does this have to do with your vision?" she asked seriously. She was willing to divulge some of her more personal details for that sake.

He shook his head.

"Good," she breathed a sigh of relief.

"What happened anyway?" he looked around. Everything appeared to be in order, aside from their sitting on the floor.

She blushed. "You kissed me."

Her simple answer caused him to cock an eyebrow. "And then?"

"Then you feinted," she managed.

That made him blush. "Oh. That's it?"

"Okay, it was sorta my fault…but it was really your fault," she accused.

"Wait, what?"

"If you hadn't been so-so damn sweet and then kissed me like that…it overwhelmed me a little," she admitted sheepishly. "I couldn't help the way I reacted. It all happened so fast."

Shinji laughed a little. "I guess it's only fair that you overwhelmed me too then." Then, he bit his lip and leaned toward her again. "Can we try that again?"

She didn't bother answering verbally, simply closing the gap and this time, though they both felt a little light headed from it, no one lost consciousness. When they finally parted, their breathlessness left them feeling a little foolish.

"Oh, one thing," Shinji said when his breathing and heart had settled a little.

"What's that?"

"I heard what you said to Orihime."

She blushed again. "You did?"

"Yeah. It was funny. I could hear you but not her but yeah, I think I'm in love with you to."

She gave him a gentle smile that made him think he was going to pass out again. "Come on, let's go have a drink."

He followed her out of the room and toward the kitchen, and when they passed the tea room where the others were still bickering, but about something else entirely now, they didn't say anything.

"Keh, there they go- don't even pay us any mind," Renji complained.

"Since when do they have to mind you?" Yuroichi defended.

"It'd be nice if they had some manners," he continued until he noticed Orihime trying to sneak out. "Where are you running off to?"

"I'm gunna go make sure there really wasn't any permanent damage," she managed and ducked out, making her way toward the sound of their voices. Her step quickened when she heard the woman give a sudden sharp shriek but then she gave a sigh of relief when she found that he was simply tickling her.

"Eeek! Orihime, save me!" she called playfully, her words cut and stammered between sputters of laugher.

The young girl was more than willing to put up a barrier between the two for the sake of their game. The woman scurried back to their bottle and shot glasses, knowing he wouldn't risk spilling or breaking anything.

"So, Orihime-san," the woman straightened her clothes and hair. "Can I get you anything?" she offered.

"Oh, no. I'm fine. I just wanted to make sure both of you were okay. That was quite a jolt of raietsu earlier and we couldn't tell who it came from," she explained.

The pair gave a guilty blush. "We're fine," Shinji assured.

"Better than fine," the woman readily added.

"Indeed," he agreed with equal readiness.

Orihime gave them an odd look until she realized that they must have discussed their feelings. "You were right about the others."

The woman smiled. "Don't worry about them; let them react in the way that is truest to their natures."

"You're doing it again," he reminded.

She gave a mock-glare. "Don't worry about it," she affirmed.

They returned to the others a few minutes later, after the liquor and glasses were put away.


	5. Chapter 5

It was bound to happen eventually. That eventuality was only quickened by the fact that she lived in the home attached to the candy store where he worked off his room and board. They saw one another much more frequently than should have been prescribed and though they had gotten fairly good at avoiding one another, they still had their spats everyone once in a while.

This was one of those whiles. When it was over, neither of them could remember what started it, not that it mattered. The nature of their relationship was so adversarial from the get-go that there seemed to be no way round it.

"Oh, when you're done with the vacuum, could ya leave it in my room?" she asked in a bossy tone, one she only ever really took with Renji.

"Take it, I'm done," he rolled it toward her.

She laughed. "You call this done? No wonder Urahara makes you do it every day. He's still hoping you'll get it right."

"Why you!" His fists clenched with rage. He was already not in the mood to deal with her.

"Whatever," she took the appliance and started back toward her room, "Guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Do you want me to put this back in that room so you know where to start?" she called back.

"Shut yer skanky trap you stupid, idol worshiping whore!" he called after her.

She dropped the vacuum and thought about taking the bait. It was obvious she'd pushed him a little too hard and decided to back off. So, she picked it back up and tried to leave him again.

"Nothin' to say to that? What's'a matter? Too true?"

"I'm sorry I made fun of you. I know you work hard," she tried.

"Don't patronize me!" he stormed toward her.

She dropped the vacuum again and bowed her head as he approached.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he demanded, "Can't ya even look at me?"

"You don't want to look into my eyes because you won't find the shame you're looking for," she advised him.

"How do you know what I'm lookin' for?" he demanded, pushing her a little to see what she would do.

She stumbled back a step but didn't back down. "I don't want to argue with you."

"That's what's the matter with _your people_, they're a bunch of spineless cowards. They were driven out of Soul Society because they couldn't contribute anything."

She'd heard the stories, from both sides. "It doesn't matter anymore who was right. It was just something that happened."

"That's not what you said before. You said that they left because the Reapers were violent and refused to understand."

"I said that, but it's part of that story."

"You said you don't expect us to understand, like you're so much better than we are."

"I never said anything about who was better," she defended.

"Damn it!" he punched the wall to his right in frustration. He didn't want to strike her, but she was making him angry enough that he needed to hit something. "Maybe it's not worth understanding if it makes you love and worship evil," he sniped. He had made similarly themed comments about her tolerance for hollows in the past but never any so pointed.

She finally looked up into his eyes and with a sneer of hatred the likes of which he had rarely seen and slapped him. "He is _not_ evil!" she informed, her voice low and overly steady, before turning on heal and leaving.

He wanted to follow her, well go charging after her, and continue their argument. He wasn't about to give her the last word but he could barely bat an eye, let alone speak with the way her raietsu was pressing in around him. Swallowing hard as he watch her leave, he realized that the only reason he wasn't fighting to stay standing was because she was holding back. It was almost a full ten minutes later that he regained his mobility. As he re-vacuumed the room he'd just finished, because he knew he had only done a half-assed job, she left him a lot to think about. He just wasn't sure what to think about that.

She stormed out of the shop, through the house, through the trapdoor, down the ladder, and into the underground training facility. She was so angry that she could hardly see straight and while that was something the Soul Reaper might have been used to, she didn't know what to do with herself. She felt infected by his rage and hatred and that only served to fuel the flame. This had her pacing and flitting about aimlessly, shaking and talking to herself in whatever tongue suited her.

Even through the barrier around the facility, Renji could feel her energy surges. If it had been anybody else, he would have gone to make sure she was okay but at this point he felt he had no place doing such a thing. Besides, having to stand in one place for ten minutes, barely able to breathe properly was all the warning he needed to keep his distance.

Luckily or otherwise, others soon arrived to stick their noses in. It was Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, and Ishida. They had been on their way home from school and decided to check it out, knowing that tensions between the two energy sources weren't on the best of terms to begin with. All they got him to say was that they had an argument, she stormed off, and had been brooding ever since. After that Ishida and Chad left, either from lack of interest in the situation or being involved in it.

"Maybe I should go talk to her," the teenage girl wondered aloud.

"Naw, if either of us goes, it should be me," Ichigo volunteered. It wasn't his first instinct to go console the strange woman, but she felt too volatile to let Orihime go.

"I'm coming with you then," she confidently followed him.

Her confidence was what made him allow her to follow without further argument. It was a little strange, but in a way rather nice. Usually they were doing things for one another, not with.

She noticed their approach but couldn't bring herself to stay still long enough to greet them. When she tried, it felt like she was going to explode. This made it almost impossible to speak with her. Orihime could barely keep track of her movements, which left her little hope of keeping up well enough to get a word in, leaving Ichigo, the faster of the two, to try getting her to at least slow down for a moment.

"Hey-" he tried the first time he got close but before he could even finish that short word, she was gone. He made a sound of mild irritation and chased after her.

At first, she was so caught up in her own thoughts and feelings that she didn't really notice he was following her. It wasn't until after the fourth attempt that he managed to gather enough of her attention to warrant a response. She slowed her pace and eyed him carefully. "Do you need something?" she asked. Her patience was still thin but this boy meant something special to her that she had yet to let on to, special enough that she would have stopped just about anything to give him the time of day.

"We heard you and Renji had a fight, you wanna talk about it?" he offered with a friendly smile.

"I-I don't fight," she barely whispered. "We argued some…" she managed and ran away again.

Ichigo gave a sigh and went back to his all-but-girlfriend.

"How is she?" Orihime asked, though she already had a pretty good idea.

"She's pretty upset about their fight but it doesn't look like she wants to talk," he dryly mused. "I don't see why she gives a damn about what he says anyway. I mean, they're practically from different worlds."

Orihime had gotten a similar impression but when she heard it said aloud she knew what was wrong with that statement. "But they're from the same world," she added quietly before calling out to the woman.

One of the teenage girl's shouts was enough to gather the woman's attention. Had her beau not just disturbed her, that might not have been the case. This time, she came over to them. When she landed, she stood fidgeting before him. "I-I don't know what to do. I've never felt this way before," she informed.

"How do you feel?" Orihime asked.

"I've never wanted to hurt someone before." Her voice quavered as she spoke.

"You want to hurt Renji?" Ichigo asked incredulously. "So? I don't think I know anybody who hasn't at some point."

"It may be normal for you but-" she clenched her stomach and fell to her knees before flitting away.

There was such horror and shame in her eyes and they almost couldn't stand it, and that was what made them hesitate long enough for her to get away again.

"I'm really worried." Orihime's eyes darted around as she spoke. "Yuroichi said that Rainbow Spirits are passive people. Those feelings might actually be hurting her."

"It might be good for her," Ichigo mused, unknowing of how correct he was. "I'm gunna go find someone who might be able to calm her down. Why don't you stay here and make sure she doesn't hurt herself or something?"

Orihime gave a worried nod and watched him turn to leave. Then she gave a sympathetic sound of surprise when she suddenly appeared in his way.

"No. Please." She held her hand up, effectively stopping him in his tracks. "No one else…no one else," she whined and fell to her knees again.

"I'm just going to find someone who can help you," he tried in a calmer voice than he thought he was capable of.

"No one else…" she repeated as though that was explanation enough.

"Put a field around her," Ichigo ordered, either to keep her from stopping him or get her to talk to them.

Orihime hesitated but complied.

The woman gave a deep gasp, blinked a couple of times, and relaxed. A couple of breaths later, she gave a low chuckle. "Oh, god. Thank you," she bowed her head to the orange-haired girl, tears welling up in her eyes just a bit.

"What was that all about?" Ichigo tried not to sound too demanding as he crouched down to meet eyes with her.

"I-I'm sorry. My people rarely experience such…dark emotions. I didn't want anyone else to see me like that," she looked away from them again. "Having you two here was bad enough. I'm sorry you had to see that." She was babbling. She knew they were unaware of how she thought about them but she couldn't help it. Suffice to say, she a part of her soul, a deep down part, recognized what they were and as far as she was concerned, they were spiritual royalty. "Thank you for helping me out of it."

The teenage pair exchanged odd looks. "Can I take the field down?" Orihime asked sheepishly.

The woman regretfully nodded. As much as she enjoyed the feeling of the young girl's raietsu enveloping her, she knew it was no longer necessary.

"Ya should'a just slugged'em," Ichigo playfully mused.

"No. I couldn't do that," she blushed. "Slapping him was bad enough," she complained, shaking her still stinging hand for emphasis.

"It's the only thing he understands sometimes," the boy continued.

"He chose not to strike me," she informed, remembering the rush of watching and hearing the Soul Reaper's fist meet the wall, leaving a sizable dent.

That made Ichigo smirk. "He made you wanna hurt him and you made him not wanna hurt you?"

"A transposition…of course. No wonder I couldn't handle those emotions. They weren't mine."

Before long, they were back upstairs. She politely apologized to Renji again, again it was ill received, but mostly because he wasn't used to being apologized to and after a quick cup of tea, she was gone with hardly a good bye.

"She's so strange," Renji nearly marveled once she was gone.

"She's different. That's for sure," Ichigo agreed. "What were you guys fighting about anyway?"

Renji frowned. "I don't remember how it started but it ended with me giving her a piece of my mind and she stormed off."

It was Orihime's turn to frown. "She was really upset. What did you say?" she carefully pressed.

Renji pursed his lips. "I sorta said that she loved and worshiped evil, ya know, 'cause they won't fight hollows and stuff."

Orihime was about to shake her head in disappointed exasperation when he continued.

"She said the strangest thing before she ran off. She said, 'He's not evil!'"

"He?" Ichigo blinked in confusion.

"I dunno. It's probably one of her gods or something," Renji shrugged.

"It's Hakaro," Orihime blurted out.

"Shinji?" Ichigo asked incredulously. "What makes you say that?"

"We weren't even talking about him," Renji dismissed.

"She loves him. He's part hollow. You think she worships hollows," Orihime reasoned.

"She loves him?" Renji repeated. "What a crock of crap!" he scoffed.

"Don't say things like that!" Orihime raised her voice.

Her uncharacteristic assertiveness caught them both off guard.

"What makes you so sure she's in love with him? I thought they were just messing around," Ichigo pressed, mostly to break the tension.

"She told me," the young woman admitted rather sheepishly.

"Tch," Renji scoffed, something that Orihime as getting tired of.

"She knew it would make some of us uncomfortable so they didn't say anything…not that it's any of our business," she added dryly.

"Well, I don't think Hakaro's evil," Renji informed resolutely.

"Are you sure?" Ichigo asked.

"What's that supposed to mean? He's on our side," Renji reasoned.

"But hollows are evil, and he's part hollow," the teen reasoned.

"But he fights hollows. If anything she should despise him for that," the redhead pointed out, feeling rather triumphant in his reasoning.

"But hollows kill each other naturally," Orihime added quietly.

"None of this matters. She apologized. We're fine now, well as fine as we ever were," Renji dismissed.

"Do you think I'm evil?" Ichigo asked suddenly.

The question made Orihime's breath catch.

"I got a hollow inside me. I use it to fight whatever enemy stands before me, hollow or no," Ichigo informed resolutely.

That made Renji falter. "Kurosaki, you're not evil," Renji replied, unamused by the notion.

"Then how much hollow does it take?" the young man asked.

None of them had an answer for that


	6. Words So Leasured

She's an emotion avenger

she is the villain who sends a

Line of dark fantastic passion

She knows that you will surrender

Knows that you will surrender

you want this fantastic passion

we'll have fantastic passion

You can feel her lips undress your eyes

Why should ugly skin that never feels...

Never feel your fingers tingle tense anticipation on it

this one is an easy one, feel the word and melt upon it

Words of love, words so leisured

Words are poisoned darts of pleasure

die...

Yes, she's in her black mood tonight

Watch her dye your black hair white

Rob you of your muscles, slacken

all the skin that was so tight

So ask for a reason

Ask for any reason

Ask for the one reply

for the one reply

Try for reason

but passion never lives

it dies with reason

Try for reason

then die…

Words So Leasured by Franz Ferdinand

* * *

None of them felt the need to speak of the incident after it was over. They preferred to wait until one of them had something helpful to add rather than hash it out for the hell of it since that didn't seem like it would really help anybody.

It didn't help that they were pretty firmly divided on how to feel about what happened. Renji still felt like he didn't have anything to apologize for. It was her fault of she was so easily offended after being rude to him like that, and he refused to accept her relationship as genuinely romantic. He had only ever seen them flirt and kiss a little, unlike Ichigo and Orihime who had both seen the couple engage in much much more telling situations, so he couldn't bring himself to respect that indulgence.

He wouldn't really hold it against Shinji, however, as he had occasionally entertained soul reaper groupies in soul society. As far as he was concerned, it was Meimei's fault for being attracted to what he was rather than who he was. The fact that she didn't argue when he did made comments to that effect didn't seem to help her case.

If he had directly asked her, she would have admitted that she felt a very definite amount of deference toward him and his comrades, but she only had romantic feelings for Shinji. But she would make him ask the direct question because she was still a little scared by the feelings that she had for the blonde vizard. She had never felt that way about anyone before, let alone shared a piece of her soul with them, something that could only happen if there was a duel soul involved.

These were some of the things that Meimei was thinking about as she idly watched Ichigo and Shinji spar. She found she did much of her best thinking while Shinji was using his shikai.

Her revere was interrupted a moment later when Ichigo suddenly tried to stand and fell back down on his butt. "Hey, turn it off, would ya? I gotta get goin!" the teen complained to his blonde friend.

"Where's the fire?" Shinji taunted even though he had felt the sudden appearance of a rather hostile hollow reitsu just a moment before. In spite of the taunt, he gave his guest a nod and shifted reality back to normal.

"Thanks," Ichigo grumbled as he brushed himself off.

"Wait," Meimei gasped. "That's not really a hollow, is it?"

"It's an arancar," the teen answered.

"Arancar?" she repeated, obviously confused and disturbed. "I'm going with you," she informed when Ichigo turned to leave.

"I don't think that's a good idea. These guys are dangerous. Besides, you said you wouldn't be able to do anything about a hollow with a soul reaper around," Ichigo tried to reason.

"I don't care. I'm going with you," she asserted stubbornly.

"I'll go too. We can cut out if things get too crazy," Shinji offered.

Ichigo reluctantly agreed because he wanted to get to the scene as quickly as possible. Fortunately, Shinji got Meimei to hang back while he charged the teal-haired espada.

Within a half an hour, Ichigo had all but forgotten about his two friends observing from a semi-safe distance, but that was mostly because Grimjaw was especially aggressive that day. The espada had obviously been storing up his energy for this fight and was doing a fine job of knocking Ichigo down more often than not.

After a particularly hard hit, Meimei feared that the orange-haired vizard would lose consciousness and didn't think before rushing up between him and his attacker.

"Meimei!" Shinji scolded but it was too late. "Damn it," he cursed under his breath.

"Stop!" she shouted at the arancar and to everyone's surprise, he actually stopped what he'd hoped would be his final advance.

"What's this?" Grimjaw purred after the initial shock of her appearance wore off. He started slowly stalking toward her with a malicious grin on his face.

"Meimei, get out of here!" Ichigo ordered.

She ignored him. "You are a hollow?" she asked the large creature as he approached. She wanted to take the hole through his stomach as enough of an indication, but it didn't seem right.

"I am the sixth epada," he bragged but that obviously meant nothing to her. "Yeah, isn't this enough proof for ya?" he stuck his hand into the hole and wiggled his fingers.

"B-But you can talk..." she awed.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"I am known as Meimei. I ask you, please, leave this world and return to your own," she pleaded while making strange gestures in the air between them.

"Tch, I'll do that when I'm done with that sad piece of crap behind you," he taunted, looking over her at the young man prone on the ground behind her. To his surprise, his presence didn't seem to intimidate her like it should. In fact, she had no trouble looking up into his eyes when she spoke again.

"This is not your world. I realize there are many temptations that lead you here, but you do not belong here just as we would not belong in your world," she told him evenly.

"I don't care whose world it is. Now, get out of my way so I can finish this," he went to shove her aside to get to the young man who had finally managed to stand up behind her but as soon as his hand made contact with her, he lost his conviction. Irritated, he pulled way, "What's with you? Get out of my way!" he demanded fitfully.

Meimei shot an inquisitive look upward, and once the large man was within easy arm's reach again, she reached up and poked him in the chest. "What are you?" she asked curiously. "You're like them, but the opposite," she mused.

Grimjaw growled at her. It was clear she didn't fear him in the slightest but that wasn't what really bothered him. What really bothered him was the fact that even with as angry as she was making him, he felt disinclined to hurt her. "What's the matter with you?" the espada taunted.

Ichigo swallowed hard and pushed his way in front of Meimei. "Stay back," he told her. "Shinji! Get her the hell out of here!" he yelled.

She ignored them. "We've always wondered if something like this was possible," she commented as she walked around Grimjaw to get a better look at him.

"Who the hell is this bitch anyway?" Grimjaw pointed over his shoulder with his thumb as he spoke to Ichigo.

That was when Shinji finally emerged. He stayed hidden for so long partially because he was so shocked by her actions and then because he wanted to see what would happen. "Come on, this isn't our fight," he coaxed.

Much to his dismay, he was ignored. "What will it take to get you to leave right now?" she asked the teal-haired hollow when she made it back around to face him. Something about this creature greatly disturbed her, but as much as he disturbed her, he also excited something primal within her. He was like nothing she'd ever seen before, but her instincts told her that because he was a hollow, he could be sent back with only minimal damage. The problem came in that her earlier incantation didn't seem to effect him as it should have, leaving her to conclude that she would have to use something much more powerful. Either that, or she would have to reason with the creature, something that even she was unsure about.

The bargain caught Grimjaw by surprise, and he ended up turning back to her, but before he could speak, Shinji was at her side.

"Come on, let's go," he took her by the arm and tried to pull her away.

The look she gave him was incredulous and obviously offended. "I don't question the things you do, so please do not question my actions."

"You can't reason with him. Or bargain with him. Or anything like that. It just doesn't work that way. He's not like the hollows you know," Shinji informed.

Grimjaw scoffed. "He's right. I'm a lost cause, but you're pretty cute. I might stop beating the piss outta this kid if you wanna entertain me," he crudely proposed.

"Back off!" Shinji yelled at the espada.

"What's this prissy piece of shit? Your boyfriend?" Grimjaw taunted.

Shinji practically growled with contempt. If he wasn't trying to get her out of there, that would have made him attack. He tried again to pull her away from the chaotic scene but she pushed him off.

"I need to see if I can do this. Running away isn't going to do any good and Ichigo's not in any shape to keep fighting," she argued.

"What exactly do you think you're doin' anyway?" the espada questioned condescendingly.

"I'm trying to get you to go home," she informed seriously. "There's really no need for you to be here," she pointed out.

"I got my reasons," Grimjaw dawdled. "But you seem a lot more interesting than what I came here for," he mused.

"Ichigo, Shinji, please leave," Meimei suddenly and very seriously requested without taking her eyes off the hollow in front of her.

"You can't be serious! This guy isn't a normal hollow. You can't just send him back!" Shinji argued and Ichigo was quick to agree.

Grimjaw was greatly amused by the idea that this little woman thought that she had it in her to make him simply abandon his mission of distracting the orange-haired soul reaper while his comrades worked elsewhere. "How 'bout this, I'll go back if you come with me," he tauntingly offered.

Meimei was taken aback by his offer though it didn't exactly surprise her. In her past encounters with normal hollows, she had felt the creatures trying to draw her into the hollow realm with them as they retreated, but to hear the feeling spoken aloud by a sentient hollow was more than a little startling.

"No way!" Ichigo spat before anyone else could speak.

"You do not speak for me. If my company is all it takes to get this creature to return home, it is a small price to pay," she asserted, mostly because she didn't think that the other techniques she had would work at the moment. Then she turned her full attention back to Grimjaw. "Please, show me the way," she suggested.

Grimjaw's eyes lit up with delight. This was certainly not the kind of victory he'd been expecting but it was still very sweet. "It's almost time for me to go anyway, so what the hell?" he laughed as he scooped up the small young woman and leapt upward to an impossible height.

Ichigo and Shinji weren't far behind but they were just a fraction of a second too slow, having to watch their enemy carry their new friend through the tear in the sky into a realm that gave them the chills just to think about.

"How could you let that happen? You were supposed to get her out of here if anything happened!" Ichigo scolded angrily.

"I know. I-I couldn't stop her," Shinji weakly defended, knowing that wouldn't be a sufficient explanation. There was something about her demeanor that made him pause when he knew he should be acting.

"What do you mean you couldn't stop her? You were grabbing her arm!" Ichigo continued to rave.

"I just couldn't, okay?" Shinji snapped. "And you shoulda stopped that maniac from escaping in the first place!"

The pair fought like that until they got to the Urahara house where Ichigo was reluctant but determined to tell the shopkeeper what happened. If Urahara didn't have any suggestions, then she was probably lost forever, something he would have a very difficult time accepting.

Fortunately, the teen did a fair job of explaining the situation without asserting too much blame until the end. "Shinji was _supposed_ to get her out of there before anything happened."

"Why didn't you?" Kisuke asked his old friend but without the accusing tone their young comrade was using.

"I just couldn't," he asserted. "Every time I wanted to, it was like I couldn't move," he complained.

Kisuke chuckled a little. "Don't get so down on yourselves. From your story, I'm getting the impression she wasn't letting you remove her from the situation. Her kind have intense sway over hollows and you're both part hollow," he pointed out.

Though they didn't like the assertion, it was difficult to argue with.

"Yeah that didn't help her much with Grimjaw though," Ichigo grumbled.

"I wouldn't say that. It sounds like he didn't make anymore attacks after she appeared," he noted.

"But she got kidnapped in exchange," the teen complained.

"You should have seen the look on that bastard's face when she agreed to go with him," Shinji grumbled. "She didn't have to do that. We could have handled him if it came to that."

Kisuke shook his head in exasperation. "What makes you think she was unwillingly following him?"

"Who in their right mind would willingly follow a manic like him?" Ichigo raved.

"She was surprised that he could talk," Shinji noted offhandedly. "And he didn't do more than try to push her out of the way and he didn't even do that very well," he recalled.

"I still don't like it. Urahara, is there anyway we can go after her?" Ichigo pressed unaware that someone much closer to him would be taken in the near future.


	7. Chapter 7

Due to epic computer problems and nearly losing all of my documents, there have been some delays in my updates.

* * *

Once they got to Heuco Mundo, Grimjaw set her down and started laughing hysterically. She understood why he was so amused but didn't really agree with him, so instead of acknowledging his laughter, she started to look around. Only elders were considered strong enough to travel into the hollow realm and return safely, and while she was much older than she appeared, she wasn't quite to the elder stage of her life yet.

"Now you're where you don't belong!" Grimjaw taunted when he finally caught his breath.

"So it would seem," she nodded as she continued to survey their surroundings. They were in the middle of a monochromatic desert, the only landmarks being a few dead trees and a large dome not too far off in the distance.

"What's with you? You should be crappin' your pants right now!" he pressed willfully.

"Then I am not what I seem to be," she answered.

"So what are you then?" he challenged.

"I'm not an enemy, that's for sure," she laughed a little before turning to scrutinze him. "But you don't seem to remember..." she mused sadly.

"We've met before?" he scoffed, thinking that he would have remember someone like her, but the longer he looked at her the more familiar she felt.

"Well, I've never met you personally but hollows consume one another so often that I find it hard to believe that at least part of you hasn't encountered me, or someone like me, before," she mused.

Grimjaw cocked a curious eyebrow but before he could try to force more out of her than a riddle, a large serpent-shaped hollow burst through the surface of the sand a few feet from where they were standing. Because he still felt that she was his prize, he stepped between them and readied his attack, knowing it wouldn't take more than a few seconds to eliminate the intrusive entity.

"Stop!" she shouted and again he didn't think before complying. Then, she stepped out from behind him and waved one of her hands in the air, creating a pattern that Grimjaw did not recognize. "Please," she said quietly to the nameless hollow, "I realize this is not my place, but it does nothing to attack me."

Grimjaw couldn't believe what happened next. The serpent stopped its impending assault and burrowed back into the sand.

"How'd you do that?" he asked suspiciously.

Before she could answer another arancar appeared. This one was smaller but somehow more foreboding.

"Yes, please enlighten us," Ulquiorra interrupted.

She gave him a confused look at his sudden approach but didn't react otherwise. "That is simply how my kind interacts with yours. We realize that fighting only leads to mutual destruction. It is much easier to part ways peacefully. May I assume that you are also an arancar?"

Ulquiorra didn't feel like dignifying that with a response. "You're coming with me," he informed.

"Hey! I found her!" Grimjaw argued fitfully.

"Please. Do not shout because of me," she pleaded. "If he wants me to go with him, then I will follow."

"He doesn't care what happens to you. He's just taking you to Aizen to see if he thinks you're worth keeping around," Grimjaw informed harshly.

Meimei cocked a curious look at the green-haired arancar. "Aizen?" she repeated.

"Our master," Ulquiorra answered.

That really confused by that. "Master? Since when do hollows have a master?" she pressed as she started to follow him.

Grimjaw guffawed. He didn't think they should, but he knew better than to say that aloud in front of Ulquiorra.

"He arrived only recently," Ulquiorra explained but only because she was being so compliant.

"And when did you all start talking?" she asked after a moment to process what was being told to her.

"Sentience was delivered by Aizen," the fourth espada answered with an odd tone of proud neutrality.

That disturbed her but she decided to hold her questions until she was confronted with this Aizen creature.

* * *

Meimei and Grimjaw waited outside Aizen's office with Gin while Ulquiorra delivered his verbal report.

Everything that Meimei was seeing in Los Noches made her anxious. There was something very wrong with the balance of power in the hollow realm, and she hoped that she would be able to make it back to tell someone about it.

This anxiety came to a head when they were greeted by Gin outside of Aizen's office. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of him, and she had to blink a few times to make sure of what she was seeing.

"Ya know, it's rude to stare," Gin teased as he moved around her to get a better look at her.

"My apologies. I didn't realize one required manners in Heuco Mundo. Survival is usually enough," she half joked.

"We haven't seen anyone like you here before," Gin noted. "Do your kind come here often?" he pressed.

"Only when it is necessary," she curtly replied. "I didn't know your kind came here at all, let alone lived here."

Grimjaw sat back and listened to their exchange. Apparently, Gin knew what the woman was and was annoyed that he didn't just say it out loud so that he could know too. What made him stay quiet was watching how fearlessly she responded to the former soul reaper even though he was obviously making her nervous.

"Me and my comrades are something of a special circumstance. Do you like what we've done with the place?" he taunted.

"Honestly, I can't say I care much for it," she casually replied.

"That's too bad," he shrugged. "We've worked very hard to create some sense of civilization in this hostile realm...but I suppose I shouldn't expect someone like you to appreciate that."

Their conversation would have continued if Ulquiorra hadn't opened the door to call them in a moment later.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Aizen's office...

"Grimjaw came back earlier than he was supposed to, but it had no effect on the mission at large. We are nearly prepared to take the young woman you were asking about," he reported. He knew the young woman in question was named Orihime but he didn't see why he should be bothered with using her name.

"Oh? Was the ryoka boy more prepared than we expected?" Aizen assumed.

"No, he found something interesting and brought it back here," he replied evenly.

"What sort of something?" Aizen curiously prompted. His idea of interesting didn't generally line up with Grimjaw's, but it was worth it to ask.

"A female," Ulquiorra answered.

"A female what?" Aizen tried not to snap. He didn't usually have to pry things out of his subordinate.

"I am unsure, sir. She does not seem dangerous, simply...unusual. She stopped one of the lesser hollows from attacking by speaking to it while making a peculiar gesture. She carries no discernible weaponry, but she also doesn't fear being here," he elaborated as best he could.

"Send them in," he motioned for Ulquiorra to open the door.

"Ah, I was beginning to wonder if maybe it was someone like you that's been giving my subordinates such a difficult time," Aizen said when he saw her.

"It was not my intention to be difficult. I was fascinated by their sentience. In my extensive experience with hollows, I've never spoken with one before," she replied diplomatically.

"I'm pleased that you appreciate my creations," Aizen mused.

"I'm just so confused as to why you are here. Soul reapers don't live in the hollows' world," she nearly accused.

"I'm working on a special project. The arancar that you've met so far are only part of the process, but a very important part. And to be fair, we are no longer soul reapers, as we have left the soul society," the brunette explained confidently.

She had been assuming that they were soul reapers, but the idea that was their former title increased her anxiety. One of the lessons her people had learned after being expelled from the soul society was that former soul reapers were often more dangerous and unpredictable than their still enlisted counterparts.

"I think that means we have something in common," Gin chided.

Meimei gave him a dismissive look. "It sounds like you left voluntarily. My people were not given the luxury of such a choice."

"Well, my ideas were too big for them to handle. We would have been expelled eventually. We just saved everyone some effort by leaving before it came to that," Aizen lied and then turned to his sixth espada. "Grimjaw, why did you bring this woman here?"

The teal-haired arancar took a moment to explain what had happened. "I wasn't going to bother with her except time was almost up anyway," he hedged.

"I see, and you say there was a blonde man with her?" Aizen clarified.

"Uh yeah, tall an' skinny, hair down to here," he motioned around his jaw.

Aizen's smile grew from feigning gentleness to something wicked for a moment. When he saw how much that look bothered the young woman before him, he reeled it in a bit. The look itself was enough to let her know that he knew who her companion was and that he would use her against him if at all possible.

"It is my understanding that your people don't fight so why go throwing yourself into the middle of a battle like that?" Gin distracted while his captain recovered his composure.

"Keh, by the time she stepped in, that kid was 'bout done," Grimjaw bragged. "I think she just didn't want me to kill'em."

"I couldn't let such a pointless conflict continue, even if that meant surrendering myself in exchange. There was no reason for him to be there," Meimei answered.

"Well, you saw no reason for his presence, but I wouldn't have sent him if it wasn't important," Aizen condescendingly replied. "Regardless, now I have to figure out what to do with you."

"Send me back," she suggested, sounding more sure of herself than she felt.

"I'm afraid that won't do," he shook his head.

"Shall I call Szayle?" Ulquiorra offered. "I'm sure he could find a use for her."

Aizen frowned. "No, he could do nothing with her," he regretfully informed. As much as he wished his scientist could experiment on her, he knew that the pink-haired espada wouldn't be able to bring himself to harm her. "I'm afraid you must be killed."

Meimei's eyes dilated with surprise even though she was coming to expect such a conclusion. "I'm afraid I must be going then," she blurted out as she put her hands out in front of her. A great pulse of soul energy was released from her palms toward the two espada.

Without thinking, Grimjaw went for the energy. It was so pure that it made his mouth water. Instinctively, he knew it wouldn't hurt him, and all he could think about was consuming it. Ulquiorra, on the other hand, kept his composure a little better. He only hesitated as his eyes fixed on the ball of energy drifting near him.

Aizen and Gin tried to stop her but their subordinates made sufficient obstacles for long enough to allow her to make another unfamiliar hand gesture and pull back a curtain of space to duck through and escape. Breathlessly, she sealed the opening and scrambled back to the living realm.


	8. Half Jack

half underwater

i'm half my mother's daughter

a fraction's left up to dispute

the whole collection

half off the price they're asking

in the halfway house of ill repute

half accidental

half pain full instrumental

i have a lot to think about

you think they're joking?

you have to go provoke him...

i guess it's high time you found out

it's half biology and half corrective surgery gone wrong

you'll notice something funny if you hang around here for too

long ago in some black hole before they had these pills to take it back

i'm half jill

and half jack

two halves are equal

a cross between two evils

it's not an enviable lot

but if you listen

you'll learn to hear the difference

between the halfs and the half nots

and when i let him in i feel my stitches getting sicker

i try to wash him out but like she said: the blood is thicker

i see my mother in my face

but only when i travel

i run as fast as i can run

but

jack comes tumbling after...

and when i'm brave enough and find a clever way to kick him out

and i'm so high not even you and all your love could bring me down

on 83rd he never found the magic words to change this fact:

i'm half jill

and half jack

i'm halfway home now

half hoping

for a showdown

cause i'm not big enough to house this crowd

it might destroy me

but i'd sacrifice my body

if it meant i'd get the jack part OUT

see

jack

run...

Half Jack by: The Dresden Dolls

* * *

Aizen hissed with contempt at being thwarted so easily. It wasn't that she was particularly valuable to him or his cause. In fact, her presence was a detriment, which was why he was just going to kill her. He would have liked to make his former captain suffer more than that, but keeping her around was a liability, which was clear now more than ever.

"You two are absolutely useless!" he raged at the two arancar, slamming his fist down on his desk.

"I am sorry, Aizen-sama!" Ulquiorra bowed, deeply regretting his lapse in judgement. "I don't know what came over me."

Grimjaw, while not sorry, still bowed in hopes of getting off with a lighter punishment for a show of submission. In fact, he was quite pleased with the rather large spiritual serving he had just consumed and even a little annoyed that Ulquiorra had let the other portion go to waste.

"Aizen-sama," Gin broached. "It is not their fault, and she is of no consequence to us," he assured.

Aizen sighed and sat down in his chair, still very annoyed. "You are all dismissed," he ordered evenly, turning his back to the door. Gin was right on both accounts, but that didn't make her subversion of his authority any less irritating.

"Should we retrieve her?" Ulquiorra asked Gin one they were outside the office.

"I appreciate your desire to compensate for what just happened, but it would do no good. If you couldn't catch her a minute ago, sending you after her would only waste time," he condescendingly chided.

Ulquiorra wanted to argue that what happened a minute ago was merely a momentary lapse in judgment, but he was getting the impression now that there was more to it than that. "Gin-sama, who was that woman?" he asked

"She was...something of a special circumstance. It is highly unlikely that you will encounter someone like her again, but if you do, I think it would be best if you were to ignore them. No good can come from interacting with someone like her," he cryptically advised.

"What, like she's dangerous?" Grimjaw scoffed. "Tch, I could'a taken her out if I wanted to. She was a passive little weakling," he boasted.

Gin tried not to laugh. "She is not inherently dangerous, but her passivity is contagious," he tried to elaborate without letting on that she had been manipulating the teal-haired espada the entire time they were together because that sort of challenge to his superiority would no doubt lead to further conflict with the unusual woman. "Just keep your distance. Let her infect others."

* * *

Her friends were about halfway through their rescue plan when Meimei came bursting in through the front door of the candy shop. As soon as she saw familiar faces, she fell to her knees and almost started crying.

Shinji was the first one at her side. "What happened? Are you alright?" he questioned furiously. She appeared physically undamaged but that didn't necessarily mean anything.

"I-I'm alright," she assured.

"How did you escape?" Ichigo pressed. He also wanted to go to her side but thought better of crowding her.

"I just ducked out when I got the chance," she half-lied. "Did you know there are former soul reapers in Heuco Mundo?" she asked a question of her own, practically raving.

Shinji grumbled. "Yeah, they're the ones we're training so hard to fight."

She had never felt a cause was ever good enough for fighting until that day. The presence of Aizen and Gin in the hollow realm almost instantly convinced her. "They were the only reason I was in any danger while I was gone," she complained.

"That's not surprising," Urahara mused darkly.

"A-And one of them knew who you were," she told Shinji, practically choking on the words.

"Yeah, we've all met before," he continued to grumble. "I didn't mean for you to get caught up in all this."

"Don't worry about me. The only reason they wanted to kill me was because the hollows wouldn't be able to do it. What about you? When he found out we were together earlier, he looked...scary. I think he wants to kill you," she raved.

"Yeah, well, I wanna do the same to him," Shinji bitterly replied.

"They were the ones who forced you to be duel souls, weren't they? That's why those hollows were all..." she trailed off.

"Yeah, that's what happened," Shinji affirmed.

"They shouldn't be there. They're messing with the balance!" she raged.

"And that is why we are fighting them," Urahara assured. "Here, have some tea. You look exhausted."

She accepted and sat with them for a while, recounting the details of her short adventure.

"I would have liked to see their faces when you ducked out like that. I bet they weren't expecting you to get away so easy," Ichigo laughed a little.

"It wasn't exactly easy, but it didn't look like I was going to get a second chance," she complained. "Uugh, I'm really tired. I'm going to bed. I'm sorry I worried you all so much," she apologized.

"Don't apologize," Shinji ordered. "Just don't do anything like that again."

She nodded, unsure if she could keep that promise, and went to bed. The others left a short while later, happy that they didn't have to finish planning a rescue.

* * *

The following morning, Shinji went to the Urahara shop to check on Meimei. He was greeted with an affectionate, if only slightly mocking, grin.

"Is there something I can do for you?" Urahara greeted his old friend.

"I came to make sure Meimei is alright," Shinji informed curtly.

"She is still asleep. I can call you when she wakes up," he offered but Shinji was already on his way in, "or you can wait."

"Thanks," the vizard nodded. He knew he was intruding but he couldn't help himself.

Kisuke made tea for them while they waited but a couple of hours later, his guest was growing increasingly anxious.

"Maybe I could just go take a peek at her..." Shinji muttered. "Does she usually sleep this late?"

"Not usually but she did have a very eventful day yesterday. I would prefer you don't risk waking her up. I'm sure we can both agree that if she is sleeping this long, then she most likely needs the rest."

Shinji sighed with agreement. He knew his friend was right even if it did test his patience to wait to see her.

When others came for the same purpose after school let out, Shinji grumbled. He was glad that Ichigo and some of his friends cared so much for her, but he had been hoping for some one-on-one time. Apparently that would have to wait.

"I'm afraid Meimei is still asleep," Urahara informed his latest wave of company as he poured cups of tea for each of them.

"Wow, she must have used more energy than I thought yesterday," Ichigo marveled.

"Should I go see if she needs to be healed?" Orihime offered.

"I think you should," Rukia interjected. "I'm supposed to report back as soon as I debrief her about her time in Heuco Mundo."

Shinji tried not to scowl at her too hard. "She's not one of your subordinates."

"Besides, I told you everything she told us," Ichigo tried to ease.

"Either way, Orihime might be on to something. Why don't you see if she needs some extra assistance?" Kisuke suggested as he stood to lead the orange-haired girl to his guest's bedroom. He took a moment to peek in to make sure she was still asleep. Finding that she was, he quietly motioned the young girl into the room and shut the door behind her.

Orihime took a deep breath to steady herself as she started to summon the field of energy that would restore her newest, and possibly strangest, friend. However, her efforts backfired.

Meimei awoke immediately, sitting upright with a sharp gasp. "No, stop!" she commanded.

The orange-haired girl automatically obeyed. "What's the matter?" she gasped. In the past, Meimei had been happy to be subject to her powers.

The young woman's eyes darted around for a moment while she gathered her bearings. She wasn't quite sure why but she knew this time, accepting the event rejection healing would be detrimental.

Before she could speak, Orihime finally got a good look in the young woman's eyes. She gave a near scream when she saw that Meimei's left eye was starting to cloud over with an eerie black. The sound of her panic drew the attention of the others, who all immediately sprung to their feet. Urahara managed to get Ichigo and Rukia to hang back but there was no stopping Shinji from investigating the sound of fearful shock.

"What?" Meimei asked just before Shinji opened the door.

"Oh god..." Shinji gasped when he saw what had startled Orihime.

Kisuke didn't say anything, but his frown said more than words could.

"What?" Meimei demanded.

"This can't be happening," Shinji muttered as he rushed to her side, cupping her cheeks in his hands. "Orihime, can you reverse it? Or is it too late?"

"I-I don't know. I've never done anything like that before," she carefully replied.

"Someone please tell me what's going on!" Meimei demanded, pushing Shinji's hands away from her face.

Kisuke sighed and went over to the young woman's makeup bag where he pulled out a small mirror and held it up for her.

Meimei cocked an odd look. "Oh, no wonder I'm so tired," she almost laughed.

"This is serious!" Shinji scolded before turning back to Orihime. "You have to try to reverse it."

"What are you talking about?" Meimei scoffed. "She doesn't have to do anything."

"Don't you realize what this means?" Shinji practically shook her. "You're turning into a hollow! Something must have happened yesterday that you don't remember!"

Meimei gave an exasperated sigh. "No, I remember everything that happened," she corrected. "I guess I just used more energy yesterday than I thought, and it triggered the transformation." Then she frowned a little. "You should be happy for me."

"Happy for you? How could I be happy about something like this?" he fretted.

"Shinji," Kisuke interrupted. "Let's let Meimei get dressed, and then we can talk this out," he suggsted.

"Thank you," Meimei nodded before the others could argue.

Orihime left without another word but Kisuke had to practically drag Shinji out of the room.

"How can you be so calm about this? Don't you remember what happened the last time Aizen did this?" Shinji raged at his old friend.

"Shinji, you must calm down," Kisuke eased as he led them back to the others.

"How can I calm down? Didn't you see what's happening to her?" the thinner blonde raved.

"I-Is she really..." Ichigo tried when the others returned. They had overheard most of the conversation, but he had been hoping that he misheard.

"It seems she is undergoing the vizard transformation," Urahara answered.

"And this asshole won't let Orihime try to reverse it!" Shinji accused.

"Why not? If she can stop it then-" Rukia tried to side with Shinji.

"Then she will be very displeased," Kisuke contested. "Apparently, she hasn't mentioned this to any of you, not that she necessarily should have, but this is something of a natural progression for her people, something they hope to achieve."

"How is that possible? Don't you remember how horrible our transformations were?" Shinji demanded.

"I do, but I have reason to believe that hers will be different. Her people have been making this transformation for a very long time. It is a rite of passage," he insisted.

They argued for another few minutes before Meimei emerged.

"What time is it anyway?" she asked when she joined the others.

"It's almost four o'clock," Kisuke answered evenly.

Meimei laughed. "Wow. I didn't realize. Now, what's all this fuss about?" she half-teased.

"How can you be so casual about this?" Shinji scolded. "This is serious!"

"I know. I'm actually very excited," she bounced over to him but when she tried to give him a hug, he remained ridged and eventually pushed her off.

"Shinji has some misgivings about your transformation," Kisuke informed carefully.

Meimei frowned. "That's unfortunate," she withdrew and then looked around at the others. "In fact, none of you seems very happy for me," she muttered.

Rukia was about to speak her mind but thought better of it. Instead, she stood to leave. "I need to report back. Ichigo, I'll see you later," she assured.

Meimei rolled her eyes. "Like they have any say in what happens to me. They gave up that right a long time ago," she scoffed.

"Do you think they'll do anything about it?" Orihime wondered, obviously worried for her friend.

Kisuke shook his head, "I doubt they'd do more than keep an eye on things."

Meimei picked up that thought. "And that's only 'cause they're curious as to how we do it. They don't really care about what happens to me."

"Well, I do," Shinji interjected bitterly.

"You don't know how much it wounds me that you refuse to embrace this," Meimei told the blonde vizard seriously.

"The transformation isn't exactly pleasant," Ichigo informed. "I mean, everyone I know who's gone through it is lucky they lived, and it's a struggle every day to keep it in check."

"And if you don't fight then how do you expect to keep the hollow in check?" Shinji questioned harshly.

"I don't have to fight it, and frankly, I'm a little insulted that you don't seem to think very much of my strength of character," she shot back.

Shinji glared for a moment and then stood in a huff. "I have to get out of here."

Meimei pursed her lips and let him leave. Once she heard the door slam, she spoke again. "He's being unfair," she complained.

"He is only looking out for your best interests. He doesn't understand how you feel about the transformation. As Ichigo pointed out, for everyone we know, it has been extremely traumatic," Kisuke tried to explain.

"I'm going back to bed," she announced and stormed out of the room. The others thought she was going to pout in private but she was really just going back to bed.

There was an awkward silence for a long moment until Ichigo spoke.

"Damn. How did this happen?" he muttered.

"I'm not exactly sure but I do intend to talk to her about it after she wakes up again," Urahara assured.

Ichigo and Orihime left a short while later.

"Do you think Shinji will come around?" Orihime asked since Ichigo had spent much more time with the older man.

"I dunno. It's hard to say. I've never seen him back down about anything like this but..." he trailed off like he was about to reveal some sort of personal secret.

"But what?" she couldn't help prompting. She knew it was rude to pry but it wasn't like she had anyone to tell.

"You've never really seen them together," he sighed.

"Sure I have," Orihime shrugged. "They seem really happy together."

"But not like I've seen them," he tried to contend without offending her.

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

"They're a bit different when they're at the warehouse, especially when they think no one's watching," he almost laughed. "They hold back a lot when they go out together."

"I know," Orihime sadly confirmed. "That day they made that commotion, the one where you asked Renji how much hollow was too much, they weren't messing around, well not play fighting," she tried to explain through a slight blush.

Ichigo blushed a little as well, which relieved some of Orihime's embarrassment.

"She told me that she loved him that day," she quietly elaborated.

"Oh, I don't doubt that she loves him, or that he loves her for that matter. But this certainly complicates things. I think what Shinji loved about her so much was how different she was. She wasn't like anybody else he'd met, but she accepted them just the same," Ichigo sighed.

Orihime nodded. "What would you do?" she asked without thinking.

Ichigo cringed a little at the idea of someone he loved undergoing the vizard transformation, but it only lasted a moment. "I sort of chose to do it, so I can't really judge. I guess I'd try to be supportive, if I couldn't talk her out of it," he shrugged.

The young girl nodded and they finished their walk in thoughtful silence.


	9. Chapter 9

It wasn't common for Renji to join Ichigo when he went to train with the vizards but Urahara made a point of telling him how unneeded his presence was at the shop the second day after Meimei returned from Heuco Mundo. Rukia had told him what little she knew about the strange woman's rather interesting field trip and the subsequent transformation, so he had an idea what was going on.

"Not that I'm complaining,"Renji continued his rant. "It's not like I enjoy doing stupid housework so they don't call me a freeloader. I just don't like getting pushed out."

"Don't worry about it. You don't like Meimei anyway, so I don't think you'd want to be around her right now,"Ichigo eased. "Besides, fighting with these guys'll get your mind off it in no time."He lead the redheaded soul reaper into the warehouse and down the long ramp.

Ichigo expected it to take some talking to get the vizards to let Renji stay. They didn't trust soul reapers much in general and weren't exactly fond of the redhead specifically. But he quickly found that there was something more distracting going on and that he might not get to train, even without Renji.

"You can't seriously be thinkin'about doing it!"Hyori screamed at Shinji, stomping her feet.

"I don't know what to think,"Shinji sighed, giving his other comrades a pleading look.

"Don't look at me,"Lisa dismissed. "She's not my girlfriend."

Ichigo was content to hang back and listen to the discussion for a bit, hoping to get a clue as to what they were talking about, but Renji wasted no time in butting in.

"Trouble in paradise?"he teased.

Shinji glared at the intrusive soul reaper. "Why are you here?"

"Yeah, uh,"Ichigo interjected. "Urahara kicked'em out so I thought he might train with us today,"he quickly explained.

"How is she?"the blonde asked suddenly, even finding himself looking back and forth between Ichigo and Renji hoping that one of them might have seen Meimei.

"I dunno. Didn't see her,"Renji dismissed.

"I haven't been by the shop today,"Ichigo answered politely.

"It doesn't matter!"Hyori interrupted. "'Cause you ain't gunna do it. Got it?"she made threatening motions at the taller blonde but he seemed unfazed.

"It's his choice,"Kensei interjected.

"There is no choice!"she insisted. "Haven't we all said enough times that no one should have to live like this?"

"What are you guys talking about?"Ichigo finally caved and asked, though he had a pretty good idea.

"Meimei wants Shinji to turn her into a vizard,"Lisa explained curtly.

"That's not exactly right,"Shinji weakly protested.

"But the process was already started, wasn't it? Besides, you can't do that, can you? I mean, Aizen did that to you guys,"Ichigo pressed.

"Urahara did it for you,"Renji quickly pointed out to his orange-haired friend.

Ichigo wanted to argue but Shinji interrupted him.

"It's not the same as any of that,"Shinji defended.

"But she needs you to finish it!"Hyori contested.

"If I don't then she'll probably die,"the older blonde snapped.

All of this amused Renji greatly but he knew it was best to keep his pleasure to himself when he was so severely outnumbered, so he simply tried not to smile too widely at what he was hearing. He didn't necessarily like the idea that she might die, he he did like that she might suffer for her ridiculous beliefs.

"When did you find this out?"Ichigo pressed as he knelt down next to his blonde friend.

"Kisuke told me,"Shinji answered since Ichigo was the only seemingly sympathetic ear. "Apparently, it was bound to happen eventually; the energy she used to escape kick started the process,"he elaborated.

"And she needs someone to help her through the rest of it,"Ichigo assumed. "I don't understand why you're reluctant to help her,"he tried not to sound too accusing toward the vizard clan at large.

"Not just someone,"Kensei clarified. "She said it's gotta be Shinji. She gave him part of her soul for safe keeping, and he didn't even know it."

"It's an ingenious process,"Hachi noted from the sidelines. Had they been given such an opportunity, it was possible that their transformations could have been less traumatic.

"She should have told him,"Hiyori insisted. "It's not fair to put someone in that kind of position!"

Lisa laughed. "We should be used to that kind of thing by now."

"Well this time one of us has a choice about it,"the blonde girl argued as she turned to Shinji. "Don't do it. Don't let her control you like that!"

"Shinji, how could you not know?"Ichigo interrupted the young girl's ranting. "That sounds kinda like something someone should have noticed,"he reasoned.

Shinji thought for a moment. "Uh, y-yeah, I think I know when it happened. I just didn't know it at the time. I'm not sure she did it on purpose or anything. Hell, it might have even been my fault,"Shinji remembered the kiss that lead to his passing out and the disjointed vision that followed.

"Don't think this is a vote one way or the other, but I do agree with Hiyori on one thing, she should have said something to you about it before all this started,"Lisa interjected.

"I have to go see her,"Shinji finally stood.

"Didn't Kisuke tell you not to do that until you'd made up your mind?"Kensei chided.

"I have to see her so that I can make up my mind,"the blonde insisted.

"I'm coming with you then,"Ichigo resolutely informed as he matched stepped with his friend.

"I don't see why,"Shinji hissed.

"'Cause she's my friend and if this is 'cause she got kidnapped the other day, then it's partially my fault to,"he reasoned.

Renji attempted to follow but was quickly deterred.

"No way man, Urahara already kicked you out once,"Ichigo shooed. Once they were on their way, he spoke to Shinji privately. "Look, not that it's really my business but you really like her, right?"

Shinji glared weakly. "You know I do,"was as close as he was going to get to saying that no other person ever made him feel the way she did, not because he was embarrassed by his feelings but because now he felt betrayed by her.

"Then, if this is what she really wants, why not do it?"he tried.

"Would you help Orihime turn into one of us?"he sniped bitterly.

Ichigo faltered. "I don't know if that's what I'd prefer, but if that's what she really wanted..."he managed.

"I didn't think you would understand. You went and begged Urahara for the transformation,"he scoffed.

"It's not like I wanted this monster inside me. It was just the only way to get strong enough to save the people I care about,"he reasoned.

"That's noble of you, but you know that's not what she's after. She thinks it's some kind of status symbol,"he dismissed.

"You didn't seem to mind that attitude when it was directed toward you,"Ichigo accused.

"I know what the others have been saying. They think we were only together because she has some kind of ridiculous respect for what I am, but I thought you knew better. It was just nice to be with someone who didn't think it was a disadvantage,"he muttered. "Now that I know what that costs, I'm not sure it's worth it."

"If that's how you really feel, then why go see her at all?"Ichigo snapped.

Shinji glared defensively. "This might be the last time I get to see her."

"You're really just going to give up on her like that? You're just going to let her die, become a hollow because you hate what you are?"

The blonde looked away and quickened his pace. He wasn't exactly decided yet but that was the direction he'd been leaning. He entered the shop a minute later, having left Ichigo behind and didn't bother greeting anyone on his way to find Meimei.

At least this time, she wasn't asleep. She was meditating in her room, humming a soft tune to herself as she swayed to the beat.

"Meimei,"he began as he entered and closed her door.

"Shinji,"she nodded, adding his name to the melody so that she wouldn't have to break it.

"I know I don't understand your point of view. I'm not sure if I can, but can't you at least appreciate the position you've put me in?"he began weakly. He wanted to yell at her but just seeing her sucked away all his rage.

"I should have told you,"she admitted, "I was planning to tell you. I didn't expect to have to use my energy to escape Heuco Mundo like that. If it wasn't for that, I would have had more time to tell you. I am sorry for that."

Shinji sighed and fell to his knees. "I want to hate you so much right now,"he admitted shamefully. "I told myself that I wouldn't let anyone else suffer like we did...now you go and say that's exactly what you want..."

She stopped humming and looked up at him with a gentle smile, allowing him to look into her eyes. He could see that her left eye was now completely inked out, save the ring of her iris, and it was quickly spreading to her left. Also, instead of the peaceful rusty red that he'd become accustomed to, her left iris was now a bright fiery red. On top of that, there was a bone mask starting to form over her face. He couldn't yet tell what it would look like but it was already very colorful.

"You are a beautiful person. That is why I fell in love with you. That is why I couldn't help giving you part of myself that day. And that is why, if my transformation is not successful, I will happily succumb knowing that part of me will live on in you,"she told him assuredly. "I feared that due to your experience, your reaction to my transformation wouldn't be positive. I was even angry when you stormed out yesterday,"she admitted. "But I've let all that go because, as we both know, the inner hollow feeds on those things. Those feelings will only make it stronger."

"Are you saying you don't care what I do?"Shinji nearly gasped.

"Of course I care. I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of eternity with you but if you cannot love me after what I am about to become, then I would rather have nothing at all. I do have one favor to ask, regardless of your decision,"she carefully broached.

"What's that?"he questioned with equal carefulness.

"Please escort me home for the final stage of the transformation. I know it's short notice. We would have to leave tonight, but I would greatly appreciate it."

Shinji nodded solemnly. "Yeah. I'll do it. You just have to show me the way,"he agreed and she finally gave into the urge to embrace him.

This time he didn't push her away. He was still hesitant, but quickly gave into the affection and felt better for it, and he was surprised when she was the first to pull away, breaking all physical contact to look him in the eyes again.

"What?"he asked. It was clear she had something else to say but wasn't sure if she should.

"Do you plan to simply drop me off or would you rather stay a while?"she inquired, practically holding her breath.

"I hadn't thought about it,"he honestly admitted.

"Well, why don't you go and pack a small bag then. That way you can stick around if you want. I'll understand if you want to leave right away, even if it would disappoint the others,"she suggested.

"What others?"he questioned almost defensively.

"The rest of my community. I know they would love to meet you, and the rest of your clan for that matter. They will understand should you choose to leave straight away, even if it would be disappointing,"she elaborated.

The idea of meeting others like her was more than a little intimidating, especially when he considered that it would be highly unlikely that any of them would agree with him. "Fine. I'll be back shortly."

"I should be ready by then. Thank you,"she gave a little bow of respect as he turned to exit but then thought of something. "Oh, one more thing,"she blurted out.

Shinji gave a sigh of exasperation. "What now?"

She gave a sheepish smile. "Have you thought about your vision?"

"Not much since it happened. Why?"he suspiciously answered.

"You don't have to, but it would mean a lot to me if you'd give it further consideration,"she hedged.

"What for? You said it was pretty much meaningless,"he dismissed.

She appeared disappointed by his attitude. "Meaningless to others, not to you. But do as you wish, as that is your way,"she conceded and then let him leave.


	10. Tear Me In Two

I know it's hard please try to coax me

Try to elevate me to the level of choice

A scarlet sky, a silver moon is a veil before my eyes

How can she be so in tune

Tear me in two

And bore a little hole

That I can see right through

Your diversion's my digression

Take me apart

Suck my blood until you stop my heart

You encumber my progression

And then you save me

It slips by, it slips right by

Much to my surprise

And you think that I drink too much

Yeah, well I don't mind

I don't mind

Tear me in two

And bore a little hole

That I can see right through

Your diversion's my digression

Take me apart

Suck my blood until you stop my heart

You encumber my progression

And then you save me...

I think of all the time we've wasted

I think of all our time apart

Your scathing tongue is not the one

That I need anymore

Tear me in two

And bore a little hole

That I can see right through

Your diversions my digression

Take me apart

Suck my blood until you stop my heart

You encumber my progression

And then you save me...

Tear Me In Two by: Stroke 9

* * *

Even though he didn't really want to, Shinji did as Meimei suggested and gave further consideration to the vision he had all those months ago. Somehow, it seemed longer than that but at the same time, he felt he hardly knew her. His thoughts began to wonder. He was beginning to question whether his feelings were really love or simply infatuation. He remembered back when he was a soul reaper, especially his time in the higher ranks, and the attention it garnered him. Men and women alike bought him drinks and presents. In fact, the record player that he and Meimei had used so many times for their dance sessions had been a gift from an ill-guided young woman who served in his unit not long after he became captain that Yuroichi had smuggled out for him. He always figured that he could accept their gifts as long as he remained aloof to their affections.

He wondered if maybe he accepted her affection because he missed those times, as it had been many years since he was considered an individual of status. He considered that perhaps he had been in denial about whether his acceptance of her affection hadn't been due to his ego, which hadn't been stroked since becoming an outcast. That thought caused him to sigh because he knew deep in his heart that he was rationalizing. She appreciated who he was just as much as what he was. He thought for a moment that things would have been easier if she was as repelled by his inner demon as everyone else, but that was also dismissed quickly. He really enjoyed the fact that she wasn't disgusted or scared of what he was. Suddenly, the idea of being around others like her, people who not only didn't fear hollows but embraced those with an inner hollow became somewhat inviting. Goosebumps ran over his skin at the idea of being welcomed and accepted as readily as she implied. He knew that even if he did get to return home to the Soul Society that he and his comrades would be outcasts and that it would take a very long time to earn any sort of trust or respect.

Shinji sighed again as he entered the warehouse. He hoped to gather his things and leave as quickly as possible so as to avoid the impending interrogation but had no such luck. The others were waiting for his return. With a sneer of displeasure, he walked past them as they tried to speak to him.

"Hey! Don't walk away from us!" Hyori scolded fitfully as she was ignored.

Lisa managed to get the others to hang back while she confronted the blonde one on one, in hopes of a better response.

"So?" she prompted as patiently as possible as they approached Shinji's things.

"So what?" he impatiently snapped.

The spectacled woman frowned. "You know what. We're all worried about you."

Shinji sighed. He knew that but he just didn't want to explain or justify himself. So he grabbed a bag and started tossing things into it.

"So, you're going," she presumed. "Does that mean you're going to help finish her transformation?"

The blonde grumbled. "Probably. I don't know."

"Then why are you going? What purpose could that serve?" she countered.

"I feel like I should at least get her home safe. Besides, I'm curious," he admitted.

"Curious about what? Do you want to see how she handles the transformation?" she guessed.

Actually, that was the part he was dreading. "No, her people."

"Why?" she suspiciously responded.

"You know, even if we do beat Aizen and the others, we won't be welcome back in Soul Society," he began.

"Yes we will. There might be some that distrust us because of the hollowification, but in time, they'll learn we're not a threat," she replied.

"Well, maybe that's not good enough," he sniped.

"If you don't want to go back, then why even fight them in the first place?" she shot back.

"You know that's not why we're fighting them," the blonde retorted as he continued throwing things into his bag.

"It's better motivator than revenge," she scoffed.

Shinji sighed. He knew they each had their own individual and nuanced motivations and that really wasn't the issue at hand. So, since he was nearly done packing, he tried to circle back to their primary discussion. "She asked me to take her," he informed and then suddenly realized something.

"What's that weird look for?" she questioned when she saw some kind of understanding creeping into his features.

He hesitated but told her anyway. "I just realized that's all she asked me to do."

"What do you mean?" she continued her questions.

"I mean, she never asked me to help finish her transformation or anything else for that matter," and to his surprise, he was put off by the idea.

"You sound disappointed," she pointed out.

"Whatever," he gruffly dismissed as he threw his bag over his shoulder. He said nothing else as he made a quick stop at their kitchen to pack enough food and drinks for himself before leaving.

When he got back to the shop, Meimei was ready and waiting for him. "That's all you're taking with you?" he asked cautiously when he noticed that she only had with her a backpack, and while it was obviously full, he knew she had more. He also knew that she came to the living world with nothing but the clothes on her back and wondered if it was customary to return with as little as possible.

She smiled. "Well, in my current condition, I can't carry everything at once, and Kisuke was nice enough to leave me an open invitation to come back whenever I like either to stay or simply to retrieve anything I'm leaving behind. Besides, if this doesn't work, then I don't really need any of that stuff anyway, right?"

Her tone was unnervingly chipper, and the mere mention of her not surviving the transformation made Shinji sick to his stomach. "I suppose that's true," he muttered. "Either way, let's get going," he urged.

She told him that they would have to find one of the weaker points in Kurakaratowne for her to pull back the curtain to the spiritual realm. She didn't want to emphasize again that she was in a weakened state, so that was all she said, and he didn't ask more about it. Just as they were on their way out the door, Kisuke stopped them.

"You still can't come with us," she teasingly told him.

He gave a wry smile before giving into the urge to reach up and touch the colorful mask that was not covering almost half of her face. "I know." Then he gave her a brief hug while glaring at Shinji. He knew the situation they were in wasn't the vizard's fault, but he wasn't sure he would be able to forgive the other man if he didn't do what was necessary to save their new friend's life. "Safe travels," he bid them on their way out the door.

"He wanted to come with us?" Shinji asked as they made their way to the nearest weak spot.

She smiled sheepishly. "He is a very curious person."

"In more ways than one," the blonde muttered.

"I hope to garner him an invitation while we are at my home. It is the least I can do for someone who has shared his own with me as he has," she informed hopefully.

"If some of my friends wanted to come with us, would you let them?" he asked.

"I would rather not have them follow us this time, though I get the impression it wouldn't be worth the effort to try to stop them if they wanted to do such a thing. I would rather extend an invitation at another time, though they are as welcome as you are. Which is to say that you and yours are always welcome," she replied.

"Even Hyori?" he countered.

Meimei flinched a little at the young girl's name. "Even her, though I'm not sure how happy she would be there...not that she ever seems terribly happy," she added sadly.

Shinji nodded. It was apparent from the few times that Hyori had attempted to provoke Meimei that the aggressive little girl could easily be contained.

Meimei was just about to start the gesture to pull back the curtain when they were interrupted again. It was Ichigo, followed closely by a number of his friends.

"Hey!" the orange-haired teen called out.

Shinji gave a sigh of irritation.

"Please don't be like that," she requested softly. If I had asked anyone else to escort me on this journey, you would make a concerted effort not to let me leave without seeing me first," she pointed out.

That didn't really make him feel any better because he knew that their relationship was different. What he didn't know about was the reverence she had for Ichigo and Orihime, a respect that let her do just about anything for them.

"I didn't know you were leavin' so soon. I guess you don't have much time to waste though," Ichigo noted as he stared at the mask forming on her face. It was streaked with bright shades of red and orange.

Meimei smiled and looked around him a moment to see that Rukia and Renji had also arrived but were keeping their distance. Her smile grew when she saw Orihime rush past all of them to catch Meimei in an embrace that knocked them to the ground.

"Shhh," Meimei awkwardly eased as she carefully pet the other girls long orange hair. "It's okay, really."

"But what if you don't make it? What's happening, what you're doing, it's really dangerous," Orihime nearly sobbed.

Meimei helped them both to their feet. "Be strong for me. Your heart is strong. I can feel how strong it is. And don't worry. It won't help anything. Stay focused on your goals. Someone has to help keep this guy out of trouble, or at least patch him up when he gets back from trouble," she said with a nod toward Ichigo.

"We should get going," Shinji insisted. The outpouring of emotions was really starting to bother him.

Orihime put on her best brave face and let go of Meimei. "Yes, of course, thank you. Be safe," she bid them as she stepped back.

Meimei nodded and restarted her gestures. While she did that, Orihime couldn't help giving Shinji a quick hug as well. "Please, keep her safe," she bid him quietly.

Shinji rolled his eyes but quickly hugged her back just the same. He was happy that she stepped back after that because the curtain was being pulled back and Meimei was bidding him to follow her.

Once they were gone, Renji and Rukia moved up to the spot where they left. Rukia had her scanner with her and was trying to figure out how she had opened the portal through which they left the living world, but to no avail.

"Gettin' anything?" Renji asked.

"Nothing. Just that they are gone," she sighed.

"Good. She was freakin' me out," he snorted.

Ichigo hit him and stormed off.

"Renji," Orihime said with a firmness that he had never seen from her. "Please be more respectful. She is doing what she thinks is best for her. You have no basis on which to judge her," she said, looking straight up into his eyes before walking off in the same direction as Ichigo.

When Shinji and Meimei emerged into the spiritual realm, they were in a dense forest lit only by the cracks where the moonlight could slip through and the occasional firefly.

"Which way?" he asked as he looked around. He had been to a fair number of places in the soul realm, but this was one that he didn't know.

She raised a slow finger and pointed. Shinji closed his eyes and only after taking a moment to really feel for others like her did he know how far they had to go. "Alright," he said with a nod, and they were off.

As they walked, Shinji tried not to be irritated by how much slower she was than usual. She could hardly shunpo without missing her target every few steps. He knew that if it were caused by anything else, he would be finding ways to make their journey easier. As it was, every misstep was a reminder of her impending peril.

"How do you feel?" he asked once when they were about halfway to the village. The mask was almost fully formed now and practically shined with the warmer spectrum of colors.

"Would you believe me if I said I felt surprisingly good?" she tried.

He shook his head in a mix of disbelief and exasperation. "Not really. You look pretty terrible."

She knew he wasn't just referring to the mask. "Long travel is not recommended during this time, though it is not unheard of. Really, we could have landed closer to the village, but I was afraid of soul reapers following us somehow," she admitted.

He nodded, and they continued a long.

When they reached the village, there were people waiting for them.

"Little sister!" a large man called as he made his way toward her.

Meimei smiled while Shinji cocked an eyebrow at the man. He was much larger than Meimei, though that wasn't saying much, with short brown hair and red eyes, though his held a more orange tint than hers.

"Welcome home!" a young woman said happily. "Who is your friend?"

That was when Shinji noticed that they were receiving about equal amounts of attention.

"He has quite a story, if he's willing to tell it," she informed.

To his surprise, no one asked what his story was. He did notice a number of curiously hopeful looks, but no one actually said anything about it after that.

"Will you come in with me?" Meimei asked Shinji.

He sighed. "I don't see why not."

They were let into the village where they were officially greeted by seven elderly men and women.

"Little sister, welcome back. You've returned sooner than expected and brought with you an unusual guest," a woman with violet eyes said.

Meimei bowed slightly. "I have had a very interesting journey for how short it was. I would be happy to tell you about it, but I am afraid that I don't have the time," she lamented.

Shinji's heart sank. That was another story that he didn't want to tell, especially if she wasn't there to help him tell it.

The man with yellow eyes took a step toward her and placed a hand over her heart. "No, you don't," he confirmed.

"This way, little one," the old woman with dark red eyes said as she led her off without even a look at Shinji.

He watched her walk away, feeling a little lost, like maybe he should leave.

"The yellow-eyed man turned to Shinji. So, you are her soul keeper?" he asked knowingly.

Shinji had never heard her use that term, but he knew what he was talking about. "Yeah, I guess I am."

They looked him over for a moment. "You are like us, but not of us," the yellow-eyed man said.

"Like she said, it's a long story," Shinji muttered.

"I see," the man with yellow eyes said as he stroked his long, white beard.

While the others stood in contemplation of what to do with him, the red-eyed woman returned. "Is there something you need, young man?" she asked Shinji.

"He is her soul keeper, but he does not seem to understand what is happening," the woman with indigo eyes said sadly.

"I know what he is," the red-eyed woman practically snapped before turning back to Shinji. "Well, Stranger, are you staying or are you leaving?"

Shinji almost left, but as he took a step back away from the woman questioning him, he felt a tugging on his soul. It was a weak but urgent feeling. "I'd like to stay, at least for a while, if that's alright," he said reluctantly.

The red-eyed woman nodded curtly. "She is getting ready to finish the transformation. Your presence will be required for her success." She informed as she turned and motioned for Shinji to follow.

Shinji was led to a small, round building. As they approached, he could see that it was dark inside and could smell strong incense coming from within.

"She will let you know when she is ready to see you," the red-eyed woman said as she left the blond man standing somewhat uselessly outside the little hut.

With a sigh and a grumble of indignation, Shinji sat down a short distance away, alternating between facing the building and sitting with his back to it. About an hour later, he was joined by the large man who had first greeted Meimei as Little Sister.

"Greetings, Stranger," he said as he sat down next to Shinji.

"Hey," Shinji listlessly replied as he swiped at the crude sketch of Meimei's mask that he'd drawn in the dirt with his fingers.

"She's nearly ready," he said surely.

Shinji nodded. He could feel that from the energy coming from the little building behind him.

"Do you know what you need to do?" he questioned curiously. When Shinji hesitated, he continued. "It's okay if you don't. Lots of people don't know what they're supposed to do until they get in there. I've heard some say that they had no idea until they saw the other person, then their vision made sense and it just clicked."

"Does everyone here assume that I'm going to go through with this?" he asked irritably.

"If you're not, then why are you here?" the large man countered.

Shinji expected that sort of counter to be more aggressive. The other man's practically neutral tone threw him off. "I'm here because she asked me to take her home."

"Well, she's home. Why are you still hanging around?" he asked in the same nearly neutral tone.

"What would happen if I didn't do what everyone here seems to be expecting of me?" Shinji tried.

"I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we would be very disappointed and very confused. Do you dislike her? Is that why you're so reluctant?" the large man asked.

Shinji looked up into the other man's face. He reminded him a lot of Kensei, but this man was larger and his features more serene. "No, I love her," he sighed.

Now the man was clearly perplexed. "Then why are you even asking these questions? Is that just your way?" he asked hopefully.

Shinji sighed again. "I don't like being put upon," he complained. He had finally started to come to terms with her desire for the transformation and was every very interested in the idea that it wouldn't be a horrifically traumatic experience as it had been for him and everyone he knew.

"How do you mean? You took into yourself a piece of her soul. How is that being put upon?" He was obviously trying to understand without getting frustrated with Shinji.

"Well, first of all, I didn't even know that's what happened until she started to transform. Then I find out that she won't make it out alive unless I do something interpreted from some vague vision from forever ago. And really, I could probably handle all that. What's really getting to me is that she never asked for my help. Everyone here seems to expect that I'm just going to go through with this insanity," he complained willfully to the only person willing to listen who didn't seem intent on judging or persuading him.

"No one asks for their soul back," he said plainly. "It is given freely to a one that is trusted intensely. She trusts you to know whether it is right for you to give it back and allow her to change and survive. It's your decision. You get to decide if what she will become is something that the world needs. If you think even one creature would be worse off for her transformation, it is your right to let her life end before it is finished. Though, if you cannot end her life, we do ask that you find someone who is capable of doing it quickly because regardless of what she could become, no one deserves to suffer like that."

Shinji was stunned. All this time he was under the impression of some obligation to save her, that his mere presence indicated that he was completely on board with what she was doing and what was happening to her. The very idea that he could deny her and that she and everyone else in her community would simply accept his decision never occured to him.

"So?" the large man prompted.

He still didn't have an answer yet. "Who are you anyway?"

The man's face broke into a proud smile. "She is my prize student. I always knew that she was destined for great things. I never dreamed that she would help us find lost breatherine like yourself."

"Your her sensei? And you're giving me permission to let her die?" Shinji gasped.

"I have already explained that," he said in a lecturing tone. "You looked like you needed answers, and I know her best. You are very critical. I think she chose well in you." He gave a heavy sigh. "And if you deny her completion of the transformation and cannot end her life yourself, I hope that you would ask me to do it for you. She is a beautiful person, and I would know best how to end her suffering quickly."

Shinji swallowed hard. "I don't know..." he trailed off.

"That's okay. Knowing is over rated," he half-joked. "And really, your conscious mind may not have figured it out yet, but I can sense that there is a part of you that knows just what is right."

"I think that part you're sensing is actually that part of her still inside me," Shinji quietly complained.

The man smiled wide again as though he thought he was finally getting through to the other man. "You are young, but you have promise. She will call for you any minute now. Would you prefer that I stay close or simply leave you be?"

In the soul society, a question like that was simply asking for permission to do something that one was going to do anyway. Shinji could tell that if he asked this man to leave, that is exactly what would happen.

"Please stay close. Who knows if one of us might need you," he bitterly joked.

Just then, Shinji felt the tugging again. It was like there was something in his chest that was being pulled away from where he was. Now he understood that it was Meimei asking for that part of her soul back. He had kept it safe for so long, and now it was his time to decide if he would return it.

He didn't say anything as he stood. There were no words for how he was feeling or what was happening and none seemed necessary. He slowly approached the little round building and pulled back the heavy tapestry that covered the entryway. It was unnatrually dark inside and the sounds from outside seemed muted somehow. At first, all he could see were a pair of glowing red eyes that occasionally glimmered gold. He blinked a few times to adjust to the darkness and a moment later could barely make out the shape of a woman sitting very still in the middle of the floor. Her mask was fully formed now. It had a simple oval shape that covered her entire face but the features of it matched her face, including the little smile that he loved so very much.

"Meimei," he said quietly.

The eyes turned upward slightly to look at him directly. "Shinji," she replied, her voice twisted and warped by her inner hollow.

There was a long moment where he thought his heart had stopped, that he would drop dead on the spot.

"Breathe, darling," she said, her voice almost playful.

He hadn't realized he had stopped and was getting lightheaded until she said that. Then, after a few gasps for air, he rushed toward her. He held her in his arms like he would never let go.

"Did you think about your vision?" she said as he held her close.

"Yes, I did," he quietly replied.

"I'm sorry it has to be like this," she finally said what was on her mind since before they left the living world.

Any anger or bitterness he had felt before had already melted away. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to save her, but it didn't matter any more. Even if he did, she would be changed, even if only slightly, and these would be the last moments he had with the woman he'd fallen in love with. "I'm sorry I was so stubborn."

"Shhh," she eased when she heard the crack in his voice.

"Do you know what I need to do to?" he asked curiously. The man outside had been right. Any doubt he had before coming in had been completely erased when he saw her.

"Part of me knows, but that part is with you," she half-teased.

He found himself laughing a little at that. "Of course," he chuckled. "Then I guess I'll-" he began but she hastily placed a finger over his lips.

"If it's just the same to you, unless we need to talk about it, I would be more comfortable if you simply took action," she requested sheepishly.

Shinji took a deep breath to steady himself as he released her from their embrace. What he was about to do would either kill her or save her. He didn't see any in between and supposed that it was better that way. A few seconds later, he summoned his own hollow mask and pushed it up so that it wasn't covering more than his forehead. He was so caught up in what would happen next that he barely heard her gasp. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized that was the first time she'd seen his mask.

Regardless, he pressed onward, pushing her mask up away from the lower half of her face as well, surprised that it offered some resistance as he did, but recognized that as a manifestation of her inner turmoil. As he leaned in to kiss her, his right hand reached for her chest. He tried not to wince as he reached beneath her shirt and started to dig his fingers up under her sternum. When she gasped at the feeling of her skin breaking, he kissed her. He didn't really feel like the kiss was necessary, but it felt right.

His right hand kept pushing until he had reached her heart. He could feel it beating quickly and erratically as her blood started to run down his arm. Their kiss deepened as he carefully wrapped his fingers around the beating organ. Pushing as much doubt as he could from his mind, he gave it a firm squeeze and pushed her soul energy from him back into her, directly into her heart. He felt it grow hot, too hot to continue holding, and let go, withdrawing his hand. He tried to withdraw from their kiss as well, but found that her hands and grabbed his shoulders and were holding him tight. Without thinking, he put his hand on her chest again. He could feel the blood that soaked through her shirt, but she didn't seem to be suffering for it.


End file.
